A Phantom Addiction
by JBGilroy
Summary: It's exam time for Danny and he's finding it tough. There's an increase in ghost activity in Amity Park and he just can't focus enough to study. But then he spots his thermos and tries out a theory. Things spiral out of control. (rating t to be safe)(mentions of addiction)(prequel to A Ghostly Crisis but not essential for understanding)
1. Chapter 1

**So it was requested that I write a short series on Danny's addiction to ghost energy that was mentioned in A Ghostly Crisis.**

 **It actually turned out being longer than I expected but anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **Warning: this is a descent into an addiction. I do not suggest you follow in Danny's footsteps. Just thought I should cover myself there.**

 **These chapters will be short.**

 **Anyway I don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter. (Although Harry and his world is only mentioned a few times throughout.)**

 **On with the story!**

Danny growled softly as he scrubbed his face roughly. He had to stay awake. Didn't matter that he hadn't slept more than five hours in the last three days. He had exams starting tomorrow. He hadn't studied nearly enough. He wasn't repeating what happened high school. He was going to get a good grade and a good degree. If he ever wanted to follow his dream to the stars, he had to get better grades. Danny trained his eyes on the laptop in front of him and read the notes there tiredly. He could feel himself dropping off again. He pushed his chair back loudly and flicked the kettle on. He needed coffee. He sighed softly and glanced at the kitchen clock. Three in the morning. He had to get the train at seven in order to make it in time for his exam at two.

The kettle clicked and Danny grabbed his mug and sluggishly spooned in twice his normal amount of coffee into the cup and poured in the water. He ignored the milk in the fridge and dropped three spoonfuls of sugar in and stirred. He gulped down a scalding mouthful and stumbled back to his seat at the kitchen table. Why did he promise to come back whenever Danielle called him? He knew that the ghosts were his responsibility and that his clone had started school this year, but if he had known that this increase in ghost activity would last two weeks, he would have thought twice. Danny returned to reading his notes before blinking in confusion and slammed his head on the table. He had read the entire lecture without taking in a word. The last two hours of struggling to stay awake was a complete waste!

Blindly, Danny reached for his mug and knocked something over. He swore loudly and snapped his head up fearfully. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had just pushed over his thermos, he hadn't spilt any coffee on his laptop. He could not afford to lose that laptop. It had all his notes on it and he had no back-ups. If he lost that… he'd fail his exams because there was no way he could afford a replacement let alone have the opportunity to get this one repaired. Danny picked up the thermos and sat back in his seat, grabbing his coffee mug, taking a large gulp before returning it to the table. He turned the thermos over in his hands.

"The least you guys could do is leave me alone when I'm busy. These exams will affect the rest of my college career, which will dictate the rest of my _life_! I want a life after ghost fighting. Outside of Phantom. Is that too much?" Danny mumbled despondently. He sighed and shook his head.

"I must be tired. I'm talking to an empty thermos," Danny muttered angrily. Knowing he needed a break from his studying, he unclipped the panel on the side to check if the thermos was charged. Inside the thermos was three power units, glowing softly green. Danny pulled one of the units out and examined it silently. Half charged. Danny took another unit out, leaving the first on the table. He frowned. This one looked almost dead. He put it beside the first and took out the third. This one was fully charged. Danny scowled and was about to put the units back in, swapping the second and third unit positions. He popped the first two in and held the third in his hand, eyeing it curiously.

"I wonder. If this is just a storage unit for ghost energy… then it must be possible for it to enter or exit as needed. If I can charge a unit. Could I… is it possible to reverse it?" Danny whispered softly, deep in thought. He glanced at his laptop and scowled. It couldn't hurt to try it. If charging a unit wiped him out, then draining one should power him up.

"I need a good grade," he murmured despairingly. He'd missed too many lectures and handed in too many assignments late to be able to scrap a pass without studying. He fisted his hand tightly around the fully charged unit. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. It was risky. He knew that. Ghost energy was dangerous to play around with. He'd seen enough explosions in the lab to know that. But he was desperate at this point. He was exhausted and coffee wasn't enough anymore.

He scowled in concentration before growling in frustration. He huffed loudly and changed into his ghost form before trying again. Suddenly he felt a rush of power overwhelm him. He gasped in shock and blinked dumbly as he felt refreshed. His mind was clear and sharp. Sharper than it had been in three days. He felt… amazing! He laughed light-heartedly before grinning at his laptop. It worked. It actually worked. He didn't even feel tired anymore. He drained his horribly strong coffee and settled back in front of his laptop and re-read the entire lecture.

 **I have based the exams on how my own college exams work. I have exams after semester one and then after semester two. Semester one exams are in January for me. While I haven't actually set this at any particular time other than exam time, it is mid college year.**

 **In my college it works that three weeks are dedicated to exams and you just go to the exams when they're scheduled and there's a week free before the semester starts. So depending on when your exams fall you could need up with quite a bit of time off after the exams before lectures resume.**

 **Anyway, it's not important but in case you guys were wondering.**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Danielle yawned as she padded downstairs into the kitchen. She had promised Danny to get up extra early in case he dropped off while studying. It was half six and she hadn't gotten to bed until one last night. She was going to be horrible company at school today. She stepped into the kitchen and blinked in surprise. Danny was not only awake but making her a packed lunch and had made pancakes.

"Danny? Are you okay?" Danielle asked worriedly. Danny turned to her and smiled.

"Yep, I'm fine Dani. In fact, I managed to cover everything I wanted to last night. I'm confident that I'm gonna ace that exam now. Thanks for coming down for me. Coffee? I know mom and dad don't agree with drinking it to keep awake but I know you didn't get much sleep last night," Danny offered brightly.

"Please. But seriously Danny, you're kinda freaking me out. How are you not dead on your feet?" Danielle replied worriedly as she sat down at the kitchen table beside Danny's charging laptop.

Danny put the kettle on and pulled out a mug. He bit his lip with indecision keeping his back to her. Should he tell Danielle about what he did last night? He scowled. No. There was no need. It was a one-time thing. It was good to know but he didn't want to tempt fate by using the technique when not necessary.

"Tons of coffee Dani. That's all. I had it super strong. I'll probably pay for it later when I crash but I'll get some sleep on the train. Speaking of which, I need to get going. I haven't bought a ticket yet," Danny lied. Danielle smiled as she accepted her cup of coffee. Danny offered her a grin before grabbing his backpack and unplugging his laptop and stuffing everything he needed inside. He patted his pockets and felt his apartment keys and phone.

"Let mom and dad know I left in time for the train. See you in a few days Dani," Danny called over his shoulder as he shrugged the bag on his shoulder and changed into his ghost form.

"Will do Danny. Good luck," Danielle returned and waved as he phased through the roof, passing through his room. He paused and spotted his back-up thermos on his desk. It was fully charged and empty. His other thermos was on charge in the lab now. After all it did have two dead power units. He bit his lip and sighed. He grabbed it and stuffed it inside his bag beside his laptop.

"I won't need it," he vowed to himself as he flew out of the building and headed towards the train station across town.

He pulled out his wallet as he marched out of the alleyway beside the station and smiled brightly at the middle-aged woman behind the glass as he bought his ticket for getting to Florida. It was a five hour train ride. He walked to the platform and leant against the chilled brick wall as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He smirked as he texted his girlfriend that he was quietly confident for this exam and waiting for the train. He knew Sam had been concerned about him over working himself with the ghost fighting and studying taking priority over sleeping. In fact, if it hadn't been for his mother, he would have probably forgotten to eat too. He had four exams. All this week. One week of stress and plenty of coffee and then he can catch up on his lost sleep and take better care of himself.

The train pulled up and Danny casually walked on and dropped into a window seat. He pulled out his laptop and opened his lecture notes. He had covered everything for the exam this afternoon, but he had yet to study for the next few exams. So he had decided to study for those while on the train. He didn't feel tired at all. The next five hours were uneventful. He got off the train and walked to his tiny apartment. It was about half an hour away from the college campus but it was the best his parents could afford. With Danny's ghost fighting, he didn't exactly have time for a job and he didn't want to endanger anyone by having a roommate.

He pulled out his keys and unlocked his door. He slammed his shoulder into the door to unstick it and force it open. He frowned at his dark, dingy apartment. There was only one room and a bathroom. The kitchen was a microwave, tiny fridge and an old fashioned cooker, where only one hob actually worked. The bed was old and the mattress was lumpy and uncomfortable but it was home. Danny frowned at the thought. He dropped his bag on the bed and grabbed a protein bar out of the cupboard. He opened it and bit into it. He scowled. It was stale. He checked the packet. A week out of date. He sighed and opened the cupboard but there was nothing else there. He threw the half empty box of protein bars in the trash but finished the stale protein bar he had opened. He'd have to stop at the shop on the way back from his exam. Unless he wanted to starve.

He grabbed a plastic bag out of the drawer beside the sink and stuffed it into his back pocket before he grabbed a handful of pens and his keys. He left his apartment and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He smirked. Sam had finally gotten back to him. He replied before turning his phone off for the exam and ducking into an alleyway to fly to the campus. He sighed softly as he reverted back to human and made his way to the exam hall. He sat in his designated seat and grinned at Tamzin as she waved at him. He was feeling great. He was definitely glad he drained that power unit last night.

 **I don't really know how transport works in America but that's how it works here. And I have no clue on distances there either. (I live in Ireland).**

 **But let me know what you guys think.**

 **I also want to point you guys to my bio on this site. I've put links there to my website and facebook. I saw the link icon last night when I put this story up and tried it. Let me know if they work. Fingers crossed, I know a lot of people have trouble finding my website.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Danny stretched as he walked out of the exam hall.

"Danny!" someone called. Danny turned to the voice and smiled at Joseph.

"Hey Joe. How did you find that?" Danny asked casually. Joseph sighed deeply.

"Man, that essay question was tough. I definitely spent too long on it. You?" Joseph answered, sounding stressed.

"I found that exam alright actually. I pulled an all-nighter studying," Danny admitted. Joseph blinked at Danny before scoffing.

"You know, I don't get you Danny. You obviously care about college but you miss half your lectures and I know you don't get all the assignments done in time," Joseph remarked. Danny shrugged.

"Most people give up trying to understand me Joe. Trust me, it's easier," Danny replied with a smirk. Joseph laughed softly.

"I can't even tell if you're joking," Joseph muttered. Danny grinned and shrugged.

"Did you get that extra study material for tomorrow's exam?" Joseph wondered. Danny blinked in confusion.

"Extra study material?" Danny repeated in confusion. Joseph nodded.

"The lecturer gave out a paper on that star system. It's not referenced in the lecture notes but it is required reading," Joseph elaborated. Danny shook his head worriedly.

"No! I didn't know anything about that. Where can I get it?" Danny asked.

"The lecturer gave them out during the last lecture," Joseph recalled. Danny's heart sank. He missed that lecture. That was the day Danielle called him home because of the ghosts getting out of control.

"Please tell me I can get that paper somewhere Joe," Danny begged. Joseph frowned in thought.

"You could ask the lecturer. Wait, no they said they were away during the exams. And we not allowed to copy the papers for legal reasons," Joseph muttered thoughtfully. Danny swallowed fearfully. He didn't drain that power cell and have nearly no sleep for three days only to fail because he missed a lecture. He had to get that paper!

"Joe. I promise. I will destroy the paper after tomorrow if you copy yours for me," Danny pleaded. Joseph bit his lip before nodding.

"Alright. But if you get caught, keep my name out of it, alright. The library's open. We can use the photocopier there," Joseph compromised. Danny sighed with relief.

"Thank you so much Joe. I owe you big time," Danny retorted as he followed Joseph out of the building and headed towards the library.

That night, Danny sat on his bed with the bedside lamp on. He read the paper tiredly, having bought a microwave meal instead of cooking. He yawned. He was getting tired now. The power unit probably wore off. He shook his head violently and focused on the paper in front of him. He had hoped to have had a full night's sleep that night, having thought he studied everything for the test the next morning already on the train. Unfortunately this paper was complicated and took a lot of understanding. He sighed and glanced at his backpack. The thermos was inside. The thermos with three fully charged power units. He shook his head.

"I don't need it," he growled to himself and turned back to the paper in his hands.

Ten minutes later, his gaze found the backpack again. He chewed his lip before getting off the bed and grabbing the lime-scale encrusted kettle and making a cup of coffee. He couldn't rely on power units to get through these exams. It was a one-time thing. That's it! He didn't need it. He returned to the bed and roughly grabbed the paper and put the coffee on the bedside cabinet. He settled back against his pillows and gulped down the scalding hot coffee before returning to the paper. He scowled with determination but once the coffee was gone, his eyes drifted back to the backpack leaning innocently against the wall opposite him.

He growled angrily in frustration and threw the half-read paper to one side and grabbed the bag. He pulled the thermos out and bit his lip uncertainly.

"I can't focus with you here tempting me. You're the easy way out," he whispered. He didn't want to drain another power unit. He didn't. If he did, then the ghost energy might affect him badly. But then again… he really _really_ wanted that boost. He… he needed it. He chewed his lip worriedly before sighing in defeat. He needed to focus. And he couldn't focus without getting rid of the temptation. He snapped open the side panel and pulled out a power unit. He clicked his tongue quietly before sighing again and gripped the unit tightly in his hand and repeating what he did the night before.

He gasped as he felt a familiar rush of power and felt refreshed once again, this time not needing to change forms to drain the power unit. He blinked slowly before shaking his head, recovering much faster than before. He snapped the unit back into the thermos and shoved the offending device back into the bag and dropped it back against the wall and returned to the paper he had to read. He really hoped that he wouldn't regret draining those power units. But he needed that extra energy. He had to ace these exams if he wanted a future.

 **Like I've said, I can only base things on stuff on what I've experienced. And this is a little how exams are in my college.**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Danny sighed with relief. Despite only reading the paper twice, he had eventually understood the content. He was so grateful towards Joseph. The paper had come up in the exam and thanks to him, Danny had been able to write a decent answer. He smiled serenely at the sky as he walked calmly back towards his apartment. He would study this afternoon and tonight… tonight he would sleep. He promised himself that. He needed to sleep and stop depending on coffee and those power units.

"Danny! Wait up a sec!" Tamzin shouted as she sprinted across the grassy square at the centre of the campus. Danny blinked in surprise and turned to her.

"Thanks," she panted as she reached him. A few seconds later, she caught her breath and grinned at Danny.

"Want to get a coffee and compare notes on that exam?" she offered. Danny blinked again in surprise.

"Coffee? Tammy, I had planned to study this afternoon. Sorry," Danny answered carefully.

Tamzin pouted sadly.

"Please?! You're smart Danny. You don't need to study _that_ badly. It won't be long. And my treat," Tamzin retorted, almost pleadingly. Danny sighed and swept a hand through his hair.

"Tammy. I really shouldn't," he mumbled. He liked Tamzin. She was a good friend and great fun to be around. But he really needed to study this afternoon if he wanted to get some sleep. He hadn't slept in two days, and he hadn't had more than a few of hours for five days at this point.

"Danny, come on. You're gonna have a breakdown if you don't take some time to have fun. Kick back and have some free time. Please. I promise, one coffee and a conversation and I won't bother you anymore," Tamzin begged. Danny sighed. He glanced at his phone and checked the time. It was only one. A coffee wouldn't take much longer than fifteen minutes, even with Tamzin who tended to let her drink get cold before finishing it. He could fly back and be studying by half one. That gave him the afternoon and evening.

"Alright Tammy. _One_ coffee," Danny agreed. Tamzin grinned happily and grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him towards a quaint coffee shop just off campus.

Tamzin left him at a corner table while she went to get their drinks. She knew Danny well enough to know what coffee he drank. Black Americano with three sugars if he needed to stay awake, but a white coffee with one sugar for pleasure. Tamzin returned five minutes later with a tray laden down with two coffee cups and a handful of biscuits, two sandwich packs and two slices of chocolate cake. Danny blinked at the tray in surprise.

"Er, Tammy… are you hungry or something?" Danny ventured uncertainly.

"Danny have you seen yourself? I know you haven't been eating properly. So you're gonna eat with me now," Tamzin retorted. Danny scowled slightly in annoyance.

"Tammy, I said one coffee and I don't need you to look after me," Danny replied firmly.

"Calm down Danny. I'm not saying you need me to, but I wanted to. I dunno if it's money or stress, but this is my treat. So please don't make me eat all this by myself," Tamzin reasoned gently, putting Danny's white coffee and chicken salad sandwich in front of him. Danny huffed but didn't argue further.

Tamzin insisted on getting Danny a second coffee before he left and Danny had tried to protest and point out he'd stayed with her for close to half an hour at this point, but she ignored him and bought the drink anyway. Danny finally escaped the coffee shop and Tamzin's guilt-trip gaze at half two. He immediately ducked into an alleyway and flew back to his apartment. That was the last time he agreed to coffee with Tamzin when he had stuff to do. He kicked the door shut and dropped onto his bed and pulled out his laptop from the bedside cabinet and turned it on. He bit his lip as he noticed the device was nearly dead. He grabbed his charger and plugged it in but the charging light didn't turn on. Danny raised an eyebrow and tried again with the other plug. Fearful, he tried his bedside lamp.

"No! I need my laptop!" Danny exclaimed as the device died and he realised there was no power in his apartment.

There was a knock on his door. Danny dropped his laptop on his bed and yanked the door open to see his greasy landlord.

"Sorry kid, there's a power cut for this entire block. Should be back by four," the man informed him before shuffling away. Danny called a stressed thanks before slamming his door shut and leaned against it as panic set in. No power meant no laptop. No laptop meant no notes. No notes meant no studying. No studying meant failing that exam. He shook his head. He was not failing his exam. He didn't care! He grabbed his laptop and charger and shoved them both in his backpack. The library had plugs for student use. He could go there and study on campus. He preferred to study in quiet places because he got distracted by loud noises. But desperate times called for desperate actions. He grabbed his keys and left his apartment again, rushing back to campus to hopefully get some studying done.

 **Not much to say really.**

 **Let me know what you think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

The library was a waste of time. There were too many people and too many noises that he couldn't focus. And it only got harder when Tamzin spotted him and joined him. She was the worst study partner. She kept distracting him with meaningless conversation. He tried to explain that he needed quiet but she didn't seem to listen. He gave up by four and told Tamzin he was going to go home. She seemed disappointed but she didn't object. He decided to walk back to his apartment. At least his laptop was charged now. But he was stressed out. He glanced up at the sky and sighed. It was going to be a late night. At least. He shook his head and pulled out his phone. He hadn't spoken to Sam for four days. He dialled her number as he walked and stopped at the traffic light, hitting the button for the pedestrian crossing.

"Hey Danny. How's the exams going?" Sam greeted him when she picked up. She had already finished her exams and was back at Amity Park. Hopefully helping out Danielle if the ghosts continued to be a problem.

"Yeah, great," Danny replied. He flinched at his reply and could sense Sam's sceptical raised eyebrow.

"What's up Danny?" she asked, her tone told him she wanted the truth this time.

"I'm just stressed Sam. I have an exam tomorrow that I need to study for but I haven't been able to yet. And I was hoping to actually get a full night's sleep tonight," Danny admitted sadly as he crossed the road.

"Why haven't you been able to study?" Sam inquired with concern. Danny sighed.

"Tamzin talked me into having coffee with her and she coerced me into spending ages with her and eating a late lunch. Well actually I skipped breakfast so I guess it was a really late breakfast. Then when I finally got back to my apartment, there was a power cut and my laptop died. I went to the campus library but Tamzin joined me and wouldn't stop talking," Danny explained.

"Wow, sometimes it's just like the world's out to get ya huh?" Sam sympathised. Danny hummed softly.

"Danny don't stress okay. I bet you have studied for tomorrow and you'll get some done tonight. Just… make sure you get some sleep alright. I worry about you," Sam reassured him. Danny sighed loudly.

"I want to Sam. I really do. But I have too much stuff to do," Danny groaned.

"Danny! If you don't sleep, you're gonna go crazy and you might pass out in an exam. You need to take better care of yourself," Sam scolded. Danny scowled slightly.

"What I need is to study for tomorrow. I am not gonna flunk out of college Sam. I barely made it through high school. That job at Hogwarts gave me a second chance at this. I'm not blowing it," Danny growled with determination.

"Danny please. Promise me. At least don't pull an all-nighter tonight. Get some sleep," Sam pleaded worriedly.

"I'll try Sam. I don't like pulling all-nighters you know," Danny mumbled.

"Promise me Danny," Sam pressed firmly. Danny sighed.

"I promise Sam," he forced out. Unfortunately he didn't have much hope for keeping that promise.

The rest of the walk was spent talking to Sam about how things were doing in Amity Park. Tucker got back yesterday so they were able to give Danielle back up while Danny was away. They ended the call when Danny reached his apartment door, mostly because Danny needed two hands to unlock and open his door. Danny dropped his backpack beside his bed and pulled out his laptop. He tried the bedside lamp and growled softly in annoyance. Power was still out. He opened his laptop and began to study. He only stopped at eight when the power finally came back on and he made himself a dinner of microwave noodles. By ten he started to feel himself drop off but he had a lot more notes to go through before he could go to sleep. He grabbed himself a cup of coffee. And managed until four that morning before he fell asleep.

At seven the next morning his alarm woke him up. Groggily he hit the snooze button and turned over. He was exhausted. He needed more sleep. His alarm blared again and he hit the snooze button again. This happened a further nine times before Danny finally sat up and glanced at the time. His exam started at nine. His gaze drifted to his laptop before his heart skipped a beat. He didn't finish the last three lectures! He rushed to get ready for the day and turned his laptop back on. But as he read the lecture notes, he felt his eyes drooping again. He made himself a strong cup of coffee, half tempted to just eat the coffee granules as cereal. He was too tired. He'd burnt himself out and he knew it. His gaze found the backpack. He chewed his lip before he lunged at the bag and pulled out the thermos inside. Without preamble, he pulled off the panel and took out the next fully charged power unit. He drained the power unit and clicked it back in. He sighed with content as he felt his exhaustion fade away. His mind clear of panic and stress. He felt focused now. He grabbed his laptop and read the last three lectures as fast as possible before grabbing his pens and keys and flew straight to campus at top speed.

 **Yeah, exam time can be very stressful.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Danny was waiting for the train home. He had stayed up overnight to study for his last exam with the help of a power unit. He felt confident of those exams. He had studied tons. He had been clear headed and focused for the exams. Despite Tamzin's unintentional sabotage attempt, he had done well for that exam after all. He dropped into a window seat on the train and texted his girlfriend that he was on his way home. He then called Fenton Works and informed his mother and spent the next half hour talking to the woman about his week.

He felt rested despite having slept the grand total of eight hours over the course of the last week. He knew he shouldn't feel as good as he did. But honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care. In fact… he was proud of himself. He studied and he felt that he had aced those exams. He had also discovered a way to power himself. So far there hadn't been any adverse effects. Well, if you don't count the fact that he couldn't sleep until the power unit wore off. He also noticed that he had a reduced appetite too. He still got hungry but he found that it never got to the point that he couldn't just ignore the hunger pangs.

After a further twenty minutes staring out of the train window, Danny was getting bored and he was starting to wish he could sleep the journey away. To combat his growing boredom, Danny pulled out his laptop and started archiving his lecture notes and reading through his ghost files. He tapped out small additions or re-worded sentences here and there. Honestly his alterations were unimportant and weren't really adding anything to the files themselves. Danny knew he was purely just killing time. However the attempt was working. By the time the train pulled into the station in Amity Park, Danny had gone through all the files. Danny was even considering that maybe he should try to get pictures of the ghosts in his files. At least pictures of ghosts he met regularly. He didn't really know why he wanted to do that since only people he knew could have access to these files and they all knew what these ghosts looked like. Danny shrugged away the thought as he grabbed his bag and stepped out of the train.

Danny grinned happily at he spotted his girlfriend waiting for him. Sam waved at him as he crossed the platform and pulled her into a one-armed hug. He kissed her on the head.

"I take it you missed me," Sam chuckled.

"Well I haven't seen you for like two weeks and even then we haven't spent much time together for the last few months. So, yeah I missed my girlfriend. Problem with that?" Danny replied with a smirk.

"As long as you don't get weird about it of course not," Sam retorted playfully.

"I have never gotten weird about you," Danny remarked with a confused frown.

"Oh really. Remind me how you got that lock of my hair?" Sam inquired with an amused smirk.

"Hey, that wasn't me! That was because of Ember," Danny protested. Sam laughed.

"Answer the question," Sam pressed with amusement.

"I turned invisible and snuck up on you when you weren't looking and cut a piece sticking out of your ponytail the wrong way," Danny grumbled. Sam nudged him with her shoulder as they started walking out of the train station.

"Like I said, you got weird. By the way, I know you still have it," Sam concluded with a smile. Danny rolled his eyes, he was not going to admit that she was right.

They stopped on the way back to Fenton Works to grab some lunch out of a deli Sam was fond of. However before they reached the house, Danny's ghost sense went off.

"Dani's probably around if you want to skip the ghost fight. I bet you're tired," Sam muttered worriedly. Danny shook his head.

"Nah, I'll take it but I don't have a thermos," Danny decided, recalling that the one in his backpack was dead. Sam smiled and opened her handbag to pull out a thermos for him.

"Never leave home without one," she quipped. Danny grinned at her. He pecked her on the cheek and handed her his backpack.

"Meet you back home. This won't take long," Danny informed her. Sam nodded as she watched her boyfriend duck into an alleyway to change into his ghost form.

Moments later Danny Phantom flew out of the alleyway with a thermos clipped to his belt. He scanned the area with narrowed eyes and grinned when he spotted which ghost was attacking. It was an animal ghost. Part fish, part mountain lion. It was a weird pairing but somehow it actually looked more ferocious than comical. It had a long fish tail but had its front paws, complete with sharp claws. Its head was of the big cat, sharp teeth bared. The ghost was attacking a fishmonger's. Danny raised an eyebrow at the sight. However his amused musings were interrupted by a shrill scream from the shop. Danny charged forward and blasted the fish/cat ghost in the back.

"Hey! Bad cat thing!" Danny shouted. He frowned slightly. His banter had gotten really bad. Probably just a side effect of running purely on a power unit for energy. Besides there weren't many quips coming to mind with this ghost.

The ghost spun around and snarled at Danny. Danny shrugged off the thought and grinned at the ghost. He mockingly invited the ghost to attack. The ghost growled angrily and jumped into the air before its fish tail started swimming and the ghost flew at him. Danny ducked under the ghost and punched it in the gut. The cat head yowled in pain. The moment of disorientation was all Danny needed to grab the thermos from his belt and suck the ghost inside. While he hovered above the fishmonger's, his green gaze drifted to the panel on the side. The panel that hid the power units from sight. He bit his lip and traced his fingers longingly against the metal before shaking his head. The thermos was occupied now. He couldn't risk hurting the ghost by taking out a unit. He clipped the thermos to his belt again and gave a distracted wave to the people below cheering before zooming off towards Fenton Works.

 **Starting to see addictive behaviour now. But Danny's still in control.**

 **Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

Danny stood in the lab and chewed his lip as he stared at the thermos in his hand. He'd been home for a few days now. Danielle had exhausted herself fighting ghosts almost non-stop while he had been studying and taking exams. So, now he was back for a few weeks, he had offered to take over so she could catch up on sleep and homework. But it was hard. Doing this alone meant he had to respond to every ghost sense. In fact, without this draining trick he had yet to tell anyone about, he would have burnt out by now. His family were worried about him. But he was able to convince them that he was fine. He lied and told them he was getting sleep and he made sure to eat at least one meal in front of his parents a day. He knew it would be easier to just admit what he had discovered but a part of him felt that they wouldn't understand. They'd stop him. He needed these energy boosts.

With a soft sigh, he emptied the thermos into the Ghost Zone and snapped open the panel. He hesitated a moment. Should he really be depending on these power units? He wasn't busy right now. He could go have a nap now and drain a power unit when he woke up. He bit his lip. What if he didn't have a chance to drain a unit before he was needed? He nervously glanced at the door to the kitchen. Should he be doing this behind everyone's back? He shook his head. He was fine! There was nothing to worry about. When this ghost activity calmed down, he could stop. He _could_ stop! He wasn't dependent at all. It was just easier to keep draining these power units. And safer! For everyone. He was more alert so he wasn't getting hurt in fights. He was able to protect everyone better because he was alert. He was already awake too which meant he could respond quicker to the ghost attack.

With a determined nod, he plucked out a power unit and drained it. With a frown he noticed that it hadn't been enough to completely quench his tiredness. He bit his lip worriedly. Alright, maybe he should go have a nap. It was one thing to drain one unit… but he wasn't sure about draining another. What if he had only been alright because it had only been one unit? Could he overdose on power units? What would happen if he did overdose? He wasn't needed urgently. Ghost activity was easing up, at least a little. He was about to put the panel back on when his ghost sense triggered. Danny froze and stared at the innocent green power units in the gloom.

That changed everything. He was tired. But he could probably manage without draining a second power unit. Maybe. He should probably stop draining ghost energy. But even the thought of stopping filled him with concern. What would happen when his exhaustion finally caught up with him?! Would he just collapse? He might fall into a coma! And Amity Park needed Danny Phantom. He couldn't afford for that to happen. Had he doomed himself to always need power units? Danny flinched as he heard a crash outside the house. He needed to go after that ghost. But… should he drain a second power unit? He was tired but he had fought ghosts while tired in the past. But then again… he tended to get injured like that. If he got hurt then his family and Sam would force him to take a few days at least to heal and recover. Danielle couldn't take over right now. She was struggling to catch up in school.

With a second determined scowl, Danny pulled out a second power unit. He frowned at it. He was not going to let ghosts ruin Danielle's high school years like they had to him. They were his responsibility. If he doomed himself to a life of dependency on these power units, then so be it. He would protect Danielle. He would protect his family and friends. And most of all, he would protect Amity Park. If he made sure he was always ready for a fight, then he would always be able to protect everyone. It was another block in his journey towards becoming that alternate evil version of himself. He drained the power unit.

He blinked away the feeling of peace and power before he quickly put the thermos in his hand on charge before grabbing a second one. With a concerned frown, he snapped open the thermos and scowled at the half-charged power units. Maybe he should stop draining thermoses. They were essential to ghost fights and if he drained them all then he wouldn't have one. And charging a thermos defeated the purpose of draining one for energy. With a shrug, Danny clicked the panel back in place before jumping into the air and zooming off towards the crash. He didn't notice how his ghostly aura was slightly brighter than normal as he chased down Johnny 13 and his shadow.

 **So that's why Danny didn't try to quit after the exams. Ghost activity is still high and he feels he needs the extra energy.**

 **Next chapter there will be a time skip of a couple of weeks. Also it's from Sam's point of view.**

 **Let me know what you think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

Sam frowned worriedly at her boyfriend. He looked distracted. He had just fought a ghost and sucked it into the thermos now in her handbag for safe keeping. But he didn't look exactly tired, but he did look agitated. They were in the middle of a date but Danny's mind seemed somewhere else.

"Danny, you sure you're okay? You're acting a bit weird," Sam ventured again. Danny nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they sat back to watch the movie on Sam's home cinema screen. Sam decided to let her boyfriend's weird behaviour go and settled against him.

However a few minutes later, Sam scowled at him again. His leg was bobbing up and down and his fingers on the seat's arm were tapping rapidly. He also kept glancing at the time anxiously. If Sam didn't know better, she'd think he had somewhere important to be. Except, she knew he didn't because he promised her the entire night together. She'd noticed this behaviour before though. He'd have a ghost fight, come back and get fidgety. But then, sometimes he'd disappear into the bathroom and come back absolutely fine. Sam frowned worriedly at him when he glanced at the clock yet again.

"Danny, is there something wrong? You seem anxious," Sam muttered with concern. Danny sighed softly before shaking his head.

Sam frowned. She was not letting this go again. He was obviously distracted. She grabbed the remote and paused the movie. She spun around to face him with a worried but angry look.

"Don't lie to me! Danny, I can see something's wrong! So tell me," Sam requested firmly. Danny grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back down.

"Sam, I'm fine. Just a little tired from that ghost fight. Let's just watch the movie," Danny pleaded.

"No! You're not even watching it Danny. Did something happen with that ghost? Do you need to go somewhere? Are you hurt?" Sam questioned worriedly. Danny blinked at her before shaking his head.

"No. No, there's nothing wrong. I promise Sam. I just… I need the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute," Danny muttered and got to his feet and left before Sam could stop him.

Sam frowned again. She was seeing a pattern and she didn't like it. She had seen this behaviour from her roommate at college. She was trying to quit smoking and every time she disappeared like Danny just had, she came back stinking of smoke. But Sam knew Danny. He'd never get into drugs. It just wasn't something he'd ever want to try, let alone allow himself to get addicted. But she couldn't ignore the signs any more. She got to her feet and followed her boyfriend out of the cinema and edged towards the nearest bathroom door. She bit her lip. She didn't want to suspect Danny of anything but she was worried. It wasn't like him to hide things from her. She knocked but there was no reply.

"Danny? Are you okay?" Sam called tentatively. There was still no answer. She shakily took hold of the handle. She didn't want to invade his privacy but… she was scared for him. She pushed down the handle and opened the door to find… an empty bathroom.

Sam blinked before frowning worriedly. Maybe he had gone to another bathroom upstairs. This was usually reserved for her grandmother as it accommodated the woman's limited flexibility. Sam shut the door and quickly walked upstairs. Her boyfriend could fly so if she wanted to catch him, she had to be quick. Each bathroom she came to, one on the ground floor, one on the first floor and the one near her bedroom on the second floor, she knocked before opening the door to find the room empty. She was getting even more worried and scared now. Her boyfriend had even lied about where he was going. Getting desperate to find him, she went into her bedroom to grab her ghost detector.

But when she opened the door she stopped, shocked to find Danny sitting on her bed holding her ecto-gun. The side panel was open and Danny was pulling out a power unit. Stunned into silence, she did nothing as she watched him grip the unit tightly in his hand. Seconds later he replaced the unit but this time it had no glow. It was dead. Danny pulled out a second unit and gripped it tightly in his hand before letting out a soft content sigh. He put the now dead unit back into the gun and plugged the weapon into Sam's ghost generator. It had been a gift from Danny months ago, created by his parents. It had a massive reservoir of condensed ghost energy that Sam could use to charge her weapons at home. The generator needed to have its main components replaced every few months in order to remain functional. Her parents rarely came into her room but she had a lie already for when they finally questioned what the device was.

Danny sat on her bed for a moment longer, no longer fidgeting franticly, before getting to his feet and turning around. He froze when he spotted Sam watching him with barely concealed concern verging on fear.

"Sam," he began nervously, knowing he'd been caught.

 **Danny's been caught. How will he react and how will Sam take the news?**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Also please check out my facebook page. There's a link in my bio. I've put up the advert for the next fanfic.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

"How did you do that?" Sam whispered. She didn't understand what was going on but she knew that she had discovered her boyfriend's secret.

"It's just reversing what I do to charge power units. That's all. I promise, it's nothing bad," Danny answered hastily. Sam shook her head.

"How long have you been doing this?" She asked. Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"Er, the night before I left for my exams," he confessed. Sam's eyes widened in alarm. That was three weeks ago!

"Calm down! Okay. It's not harmful. I was so tired and I needed to stay awake. I had to study. Because of the ghosts I hadn't had the chance to. So I thought, if I can charge a power unit, then why can't I drain one? And if charging a power unit wipes me out, then draining one had to do the opposite. So I tried it and it worked," Danny explained quickly.

Sam stared at him worriedly. She glanced at her charging ecto-gun.

"How does that energy affect you?" she inquired worriedly. Danny nodded.

"It just stops me feeling tired. And because I'm not tired, I can focus better. I think it makes me less hungry too but not so much that I don't want to eat. I'm sorry I didn't tell you and that I drained your gun but I was getting tired and I don't know what will happen if I stop now," Danny admitted. Sam frowned.

"And that doesn't worry you?" she ventured, taking a step closer to her boyfriend. Danny shrugged.

"A bit. But they aren't hurting me Sam. If they were, I'd stop. And I only take enough to stop me feeling tired," Danny assured her.

Sam surveyed his face worriedly, he looked fine. In fact, he looked perfectly healthy. Well his eyes did look a little green but that could just be the energy settling. But… if it didn't hurt him, then why did he lie? Why was this a secret?

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sam muttered. Danny lowered his gaze sadly, clearly feeling guilty for keeping his secret.

"I didn't want to worry you. At first, I knew it was a big risk. I knew it but I was desperate. I messed up high school because of ghost hunting. I'm not repeating that for college. I can't if I ever want to get a job at NASA. So I took the risk and hoped for the best. I didn't even know if it would work. But it did. I felt rested and focused. I aced the test. I dunno why I took a thermos with me but I did. And I'm glad I did. Because I had it, I didn't burn myself out studying. But the more I did it, the more I understand that this energy isn't harmful. I'm careful Sam. I promise. I only take what I need. I was getting… anxious downstairs because I knew the power units were wearing off and I honestly don't know if that will be bad for me," Danny explained softly. Sam shook her head.

"I get why you didn't say anything at first. I'm not happy, but I understand. But why _keep_ it a secret?" Sam pressed. Danny shrugged.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. It isn't hurting me and as long as I don't let it wear off then I'm fine. I'm sorry," Danny answered.

Sam sighed. She glanced at her charging gun again. She frowned.

"You drained two power units. Did you always drain two?" Sam wondered. Danny bit his lip before shaking his head.

"No. Not at first. To start with I only needed one. But after about a week I noticed that one just wasn't enough. Actually two mightn't be enough soon. They wear off faster than before," Danny confessed reluctantly. Sam scowled worriedly at him.

"Danny, I don't think you should be keeping this secret. I thought you had a drug problem," Sam ventured. Danny's eyes widened in shock.

"What!? I'd never do drugs! You know that! I don't even drink!" Danny shouted angrily. Sam flinched, knowing he was right and feeling terrible for even suspecting it.

"I'm sorry Danny. I know that. I… I was just worried. Sarah, my roommate, she smokes and she's trying to quit. She sometimes acts like how you were acting downstairs," Sam replied apologetically. Danny scowled at her and folded his arms, clearly hurt by his girlfriend's suspicion.

"Danny, you were worrying me. You still worry me. At least tell your parents. What if this energy is hurting you and you don't realise it," Sam implored. Danny shook his head.

"No. They'll just be worried and there's no need," Danny retorted. Sam frowned.

"Danny. Please. Danielle could use this trick too," Sam suggested, hoping to convince her boyfriend to at least tell someone else.

"No. I don't want her doing this," Danny snapped sharply. Sam blinked.

"Why?" she pressed. Danny blinked at the question before he considered his answer. Honestly… he had to admit to himself that he didn't want competition for power units. Not that he was addicted! Of course not. But it was hard enough to find fully charged power units that wouldn't be missed without competing with someone.

"Like I said, I don't know what will happen if I stop. The loss of energy might make me fall into a coma or something. I don't want that for Dani," Danny eventually answered. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Danny, you just said this isn't harmful," Sam pointed out. Danny huffed loudly, dropping his hands to his side.

"Sam, do you trust me?" Danny asked. Sam blinked at the change in topic. She carefully nodded. She trusted him with her life.

"Then trust my judgement okay? Please don't tell anyone. They'll just get worried," Danny requested. Sam bit her lip.

"I don't want to keep this secret Danny. We've always been honest with each other and I'm not hiding this from Tucker especially," Sam replied. Danny ran forward and grabbed her hands, staring into her purple eyes with desperation she had never seen on his face before.

"Please Sam. Don't tell anyone," he pleaded. He couldn't risk his supply being reduced by competition with Danielle or by his parents cutting him off out of concern. Sam bit her lip again before sighing.

"I'm not going to lie for you this time Danny. If someone asks me, I'll tell them. But… I won't tell them if they don't ask. Alright?" she compromised. Danny considered her reply before nodding uncertainly. He just had to make sure no one got suspicious enough to start asking questions.

"But I still think you should tell your family and Tucker," Sam added. Danny sighed.

"Thank you Sam," Danny whispered, smiling at her gratefully. Sam offered a weak smile back but silently she was still worried about him. He wasn't going to tell his family about this and she was concerned that this need for the power units was more than relieving his tiredness.

 **So Sam suspects that Danny might be addicted to the power units but has promised not to tell anyone.**

 **Just a point, addictions can be anything. Not just substance abuse. You can be addicted to gambling, alcohol, drugs, a particular habit. Just wanted to say that.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Don't forget to check out my facebook page (there's a link in my bio). advert for the next fanfic is up there.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

It was a few days after Sam found out about Danny's power unit problem. Not that Danny would admit it was a problem. But the more Sam saw, the more worried she became. Now he wasn't actively hiding it from her, she could actually see how often he drained power units. She could also sense when his power units were wearing off by watching how agitated he was. She even asked once if he could just hold off for a little while longer. As a test for what could happen if he quit. Danny had reacted badly. She wasn't convinced that he was only taking as much as he needed any more. She feared that he had an addiction.

But she had also noticed that his ghostly qualities were seeping into his human form. His human blue eyes swirled with green now and if it was dark enough, she could see them glowing. She had also spotted a few stray white hairs on his head. That was a concern but she was more worried by his behaviour. He was unusually aggressive in his ghost fights. Nowadays, she rarely watched him fight. Either she was helping him by giving him cover fire, getting a thermos or covering for him by providing an alibi. But since she learned of his problem, she had made an effort to watch him fight his ghostly enemies.

Sam was starting to regret promising not to tell someone unless they asked first. Danny hardly spent any time at home now. She noticed that her ecto-gun or thermos was constantly on charge in her room now. It seemed that Danny was avoiding his family, using her ecto-weapons to feed his addiction. Exceptionally concerned for him, she sought out Jazz behind his back. She had to be sure if he was addicted or if he was just becoming dependent.

"Jazz, I er I have a friend and I'm worried about him. I think he's in trouble," Sam ventured, choosing her words carefully. Jazz frowned at her brother's girlfriend. They were sitting in a café across town. In fact, for some weird reason, this neighbourhood rarely got attacked by ghosts. Which made this the perfect meeting place for Sam to talk to Jazz about her fears for Danny.

"What kind of trouble?" Jazz prompted curiously.

"It's hard to explain. He… he's not spending much time with anyone but his girlfriend. She's my roommate. And he keeps getting really anxious before excusing himself to go to the bathroom," Sam replied carefully. Jazz raised an eyebrow before sipping her cappuccino.

"Sam, I can't speculate as I haven't met him, but… does he have a history with substance abuse? Isolation and behaviour changes are some of the first signs," Jazz remarked. Sam's heart skipped a beat.

"No. He doesn't even drink. But he does have a lot of stress from his part-time job," Sam answered.

Jazz sighed softly. She frowned slightly at Sam.

"Is this really for your roommate Sam?" she asked. Sam chewed her lip. She knew Danny's sister was too smart to fool.

"Jazz, please. Any advice?" Sam implored. Jazz pursed her lips before letting her own question go.

"Substance abuse is a difficult thing to deal with Sam. Often the person in question turns to drugs in order to cope or for a deeper psychological reason. But there are ten signs. They aren't always present but your _friend_ should watch for them. Cravings, increasing dosage due to tolerance build up, physical dependency which means they begin to have side effects if they haven't had their "fix", poor judgement, withdrawal symptoms, drug seeking despite the consequences, isolation, neglecting responsibilities, financial problems and unhealthy friendships. Sam, I would also advise exercising extreme caution if you or your _friend_ attempt to hinder your friend's addiction. Especially if it's serious," Jazz told Sam calmly.

Sam nodded, feeling numb with fear. Her boyfriend _did_ have an addiction. She knew it! But how could she help him? He refused to believe he had a problem. She sipped her green tea, if only to occupy herself for a moment in order to think.

"How do you convince someone they do have a problem? My roommate has feared that her boyfriend had an addiction for a while now but he refuses to listen," Sam inquired softly, staring at Jazz pleadingly. Jazz frowned before shaking her head slowly.

"I don't have an answer for you Sam. I don't know much about drug abuse to be honest. But… before your friend can get help, they have to see they actually need it. But like I said. Be careful. If you make it a choice between you or their drug, they will most likely chose the drug," Jazz warned. Sam gulped worriedly before nodding.

"Is your friend violent?" Jazz inquired worriedly. Sam shook her head.

"No. Well, not normally but he has been acting… odd recently. He's er he's part of a sports team and my roommate thinks he's more aggressive than normal," Sam carefully answered. Jazz hummed softly.

"Then I would suggest assuming he is violent. Drug abuse and addiction can bring out the worst in people Sam. Keep that in mind," Jazz advised.

 **I found most of this out from a website on spotting drug addicts. But I'm not expert so don't take my word as gospel.**

 **Little fun side note, I only started researching for this chapter in order to give things for Jazz to say to diagnose Danny's addiction, but when I was reading, I realised that without trying I had already written most of these symptoms throughout the story.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Two announcements. First, an old one. Check out my facebook page. I have an advert for the next fanfic up there.**

 **Second, for the next three days I will be posting two chapters on this fanfic. Tomorrow, because it's my birthday. Sunday, it's Christmas eve. Monday... because it's Christmas. So keep an eye out for those chapters.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

Sam glanced at Danny. He had insisted on taking her on a walk through the park. College started back in two days and the couple wanted to spend as much time together as possible before then. It was the day after Sam had spoken with Jazz and she was trying to figure out how to bring up the subject with Danny. Part of her wanted to leave the subject alone because it would likely lead to an argument and Danny would be going back to college soon and his supply of power units would be limited. He would have to stop or at least reduce his consumption. But another part of her remembered that his addiction had started because of the pressure of college and feared that his addiction would only get worse.

"Danny, have you noticed that… that you have white hair now even when you're human?" Sam ventured, glancing at a particularly thick patch of white hair nestled in his usually black locks. Danny blinked before shrugging.

"No, is it noticeable then?" he answered.

"Not really, but it is getting worse," Sam replied honestly. Danny frowned.

"I wonder why," he muttered. Sam blinked in surprise at the comment.

"Danny, I think it might be your ad- I mean, draining those power units," Sam told him, silently cursing herself for her near-slip up. Danny didn't seem to have heard it though. He frowned slightly before shaking his head slightly.

"It's probably stress," he decided. Sam blinked.

"You said that those power units stopped that. You said it helped you cope and focus," Sam reminded him with a raised eyebrow. Danny nodded.

"It does. But maybe it's delayed or something. You said it's not noticeable. Maybe you just didn't see it before," Danny reasoned. Sam frowned and stepped in front of him forcing him to stop and look at her.

"Danny. It isn't delayed stress. I don't even think that's a thing! It's those power units," Sam retorted sternly.

"Okay, I'll just have to dye my hair," Danny replied with a shrug and made to step around his girlfriend to resume their walk but Sam was having none of it. She stepped into his path again and folded her arms stubbornly.

"No Danny. I know that it's those power units because it isn't the only thing I've noticed. Your eyes glow in the dark! And they're turning green. I'm worried that all that extra ghost energy is hurting your human half. Please Danny, you have to stop. Or at least reduce your amount," Sam pleaded.

"Sam, we've been through this. I thought you trusted my judgement," Danny reminded her firmly.

"I know we have but I'm not convinced. And since I found out I've only seen things to prove that this is bad for you," Sam admitted.

Danny sighed before putting his hands reassuringly on her shoulders. He smiled warmly at her.

"Sam, I feel fine. If these power units were hurting me I would know. If they were hurting me, I would stop. Trust me," Danny told her. Sam frowned worriedly at him.

"Danny… I don't think you would. I think… no I _know_ you are addicted. I don't know if you've noticed but you're acting more aggressive in ghost fights," Sam informed him worriedly.

"I'm not addicted Sam. I can stop if I need to. I just don't want to risk it," Danny argued with annoyance.

Sam shook her head and stepped out of his reach.

"I'm sorry Danny. But… I can't help you with your addiction anymore. It's not right. I will keep my promise, but I'm not going to help you destroy yourself," Sam decided.

"Sam, what are you saying? Are you… are you breaking up with me?" Danny whispered with dread. Sam bit her lip. Jazz's words echoed through her mind. She couldn't make it a choice between her and the power units. Danny would chose the power units and she couldn't handle that rejection.

"No. I love you. I will support you but I won't support this addiction and I won't help you anymore. I will be counting my power units every morning and night from now on. And… and if I find that you're still using my ecto-weapons to feed your addiction… I'll tell your parents that a ghost is stealing my power units and advise them to monitor their power units. I don't want to go against you Danny. But this is for your own good," Sam answered carefully, making sure that Danny knew it wasn't a choice and that she only meant well.

Danny frowned at her. Sam refused to back down though. Danny glanced around him, seeing they were in a quiet part of the park, before turning back to her.

"Sam, I don't have an addiction. You're being ridiculous!" Danny growled. Sam nodded slowly.

"Maybe. But you're acting like you _do_ have an addiction and I'm scared for you. If you don't have an addiction then stop. Tell your family and Tucker about the power units. Please!" Sam begged. Danny shook his head, looking betrayed.

"I thought you trusted me. Obviously I was wrong," he muttered angrily before storming off, away from Sam. She hung her head sadly.

"I do trust you Danny. I trust you with my life. But I don't trust you with yours," Sam whispered at his receding back.

 **Not much to say really.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **I will be posting a second chapter later on so keep an eye out for it.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

Danny scowled at the horizon. It had been a couple of hours since his walk with Sam in the park. To blow off some steam, he had decided to patrol the town. Unfortunately, since Sam had now refused to let him use her thermos, he had to get one from home and he had bumped into his mother. Maddie had seen that her son was upset about something. She had tried to ask him what happened but Danny had shrugged her off. Telling her about his argument with Sam meant she'd ask what it was about. And Danny didn't want her to know about the whole power unit thing. He didn't have an addiction! So he had just stormed into the basement lab, grabbed a thermos and glancing at the time, he had grabbed a Spectre Deflector and taken the power units out, putting them in his pocket. He figured that his previous power units would be wearing off soon. He was right of course.

He was currently standing on top of the library, glaring at the town below as he went through Sam's accusations. It hurt that she didn't trust him. He wasn't sure how their relationship could survive this. He didn't want to lose Sam. He loved her. But if she couldn't trust his judgement then he didn't think they were going to work. He knew his body. He knew what hurt him and what didn't. It was just energy! How dare she cut him off!? Wait, that wasn't what he meant. Danny shook his head and gave a soft sigh. What was he going to do? Sam wanted him to tell Tucker and his family about his power unit trick. But he didn't want to. Just look at how Sam was reacting. She was constantly worried about him and now she didn't even trust him. What if that happened with everyone else? This was the exact reason he wanted to keep this to himself. Well, there was that other reason that he didn't want to risk his power unit supply, but this was the main reason.

Danny gasped as his ghost sense triggered and there was a scream below him. Danny jumped into the air immediately. Finally a ghost to take his frustrations out on. Sam was wrong. He wasn't more aggressive than normal. He was fine. More than fine. He was focused and clear-headed. Danny nodded to himself. Sam was wrong and he just had to show her that. He looked down below to the street and spotted a ghost running down the street, cackling mischievously. The ghost was slim and short. It looked kind of elf-like except about four foot tall. They had spiky green hair but the hair looked rigid. It wore a purple tight-fitting tunic and was barefoot. However its pink face was oddly perfect. Slightly pointed and smooth. In fact it was difficult to tell by its face if it was male or female. But Danny took an educated guess that it was male, seeing as it didn't have feminine curves anywhere.

Danny sped after the ghost and easily caught up with it. He smirked to himself. His power units had made his powers stronger. He could fly faster for longer and his attacks were stronger too. How could Sam think that's a bad thing? The ghost skidded to a stop and grinned at Danny.

"Hey Phantom!" it greeted happily. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded coolly. The ghost blinked at the halfa's tone before shrugging.

"Just visiting. Having some fun. Wanna join me?" the ghost answered. Danny scowled.

"Doing what?" Danny pressed with a slight anger to his words. He paused. Why was he so angry at this ghost? It didn't seem dangerous. In fact it was friendly.

"Oh just harmless pranks. That's all. I don't take it too far like Amorpho. By the way, name's Prankster," the ghost replied.

"Pranks like what?" Danny inquired, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. He really didn't understand his own hostility.

"Um, water balloons. Er, jumping out at people. The invisible pants thing. A little overshadowing to make people do funny stuff," Prankster suggested with a nervous smile, he had noticed Danny's odd hostility and he wasn't sure if he wanted to hang out with the halfa now.

Danny considered the ghost. His mind was telling him that this ghost was harmless. He should just give it a few ground rules and leave it be. He was also realising that maybe he wasn't in the right mind set to be ghost hunting. He was too angry. He didn't want to do something he'd regret. But another part of him. The angry, hostile part was urging him to just fight Prankster. It was a ghost and he fought ghosts. He had to protect his town and this ghost must be a threat. He wanted to let the ghost go. Especially because he didn't exactly trust himself right now not to take it too far. But he couldn't! That angry part of himself was too strong. It was like he was fighting himself. He didn't even notice that his hands had curled into fists and were sparking with barely restrained ghost rays. Prankster backed away a couple of steps nervously, glancing at the curious crowd that was forming around the two ghosts.

Finally a part of Danny won and Danny fired at Prankster with an angry snarl. Prankster yelped in alarm and darted out of the way. Danny flew forward at breakneck speeds and grabbed Prankster's tunic, pulling the frightened ghost towards him.

"This is my town. You aren't welcome," Danny hissed. Prankster nodded in frantic understanding.

"Yep, got it. I'll go then. Just don't hurt me," Prankster agreed instantly, his green eyes wide with fear. Danny paused before deciding he couldn't trust the ghost's word. He had to defeat it and suck it into his thermos. Danny charged his free hand with dark green ghost energy.

"Phantom! The ghost said it would go!" a man in the crowd shouted at him.

Danny looked up in surprise, having not noticed the crowd at all. But the lapse in concentration caused him to fire his ghost ray by accident. He gasped in fear, unable to react in time to stop the overly strong ghost ray from hitting a woman. The woman gasped in fear and quickly shoved her daughter out of danger, taking the hit herself.

 **Danny's finally realised that he isn't acting like himself but not in time prevent something bad happening.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **So I posted a chapter already today a few hours ago. Make sure you haven't accidentally skipped a chapter.**

 **Why? There's two reasons. the first being that I need to double up on a couple of days to end this story around New Year's which I want. And the second is the reason for doing it _today_. It's actually my birthday today. I don't particularly like bragging about it but that's why I chose to do two chapters today. I will be posting two chapters tomorrow and the next day too. I think it's obvious why those days. **

**Until the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

Danny dropped Prankster and sped over to the injured woman.

"I'm so sorry! Let me help!" Danny exclaimed fearfully, filled with remorse. The woman was laying on the ground, whimpering in pain as she held her stomach. Danny landed beside her, ignoring how everyone backed away out of fear. The girl was crying fearfully, on her knees and fussing over her mother. Danny bit his lip. Sam was right. He was more aggressive than normal. Maybe he was addicted!

"Can I see?" Danny asked with a shaky voice. The woman slowly pulled her hand away, in too much pain to even care who was trying to help her. Danny's eyes widened in alarm. It was the worst ectoplasmic burn he'd ever seen. And there was one place that knew how to treat burns like this. But he also knew that this woman might be hurt in other ways. He glanced around himself. There didn't seem to be a husband hovering nearby. That meant the girl had to go wherever the woman did.

"What's your name?" Danny whispered as his eyes turned blue, activating his ice core.

"E-Emily," the woman stammered, clearly in a lot of pain.

"Emily, this is going to be very cold," he warned as he placed his hand gently against the charred flesh. Emily gasped in surprise and Danny flinched at the woman's discomfort. But he blocked out the mutterings around him as he concentrated on helping this woman.

He used frost on the burnt clothes to secure the icy dressing over the burn. He then used ectoplasm to make sticky bandages to further secure the icy dressing. He then glanced at the girl. She didn't look older than seven years old and she was crying silently, staring horrified at her mother.

"What's your name?" he inquired gently. The girl startled before looking at him with wide scared eyes.

"Violet," the girl whispered.

"Violet, I'm going to take your mom to Fenton Works. They know how to treat ectoplasmic burns. Then they'll call an ambulance to take your mom to hospital. I'm going to make a copy of myself to carry you both there. Are you and your mom here by yourselves?" Danny explained gently. Violet nodded. Danny duplicated himself, too distraught and worried to marvel at how fast and easy it was. His original carefully scooped Emily into his arms and his duplicated picked up Violet. Danny glanced around himself, noticing that Prankster was long gone and most of the crowd were regarding him with obvious fear. He jumped into the air with his duplicate.

He made sure to not fly too fast and scare either passenger further but they arrived at Fenton Works within minutes. He phased them right into the lab. He laid Emily carefully on an unused desk and set Violet down on the ground. His duplicate then phased up into the house to explain the situation to his parents while his original grabbed a lab coat and folded it up into a pillow. He then carefully dissolved the ectoplasm bandages and unfroze the dressing enough to be able to be removed. By the time he had done that, his duplicate had told his parents that he had accidently shot a woman with a strong ghost ray. He hadn't told them why yet mainly because he was too worried about Emily. He couldn't distract them with his addiction when this woman needed help.

Maddie and Jack arrived in the lab with serious expressions.

"Phantom, you should take Violet upstairs. Emily, don't worry, you're in good hands here. We have extensive experience in dealing with ectoplasmic burns. Jack, go grab the first aid kit and the burn cream," Maddie explained confidently. Danny nodded and offered his hand to the girl. She shook her head.

"No, I wanna stay with my mom," she refused, not meeting Danny's gaze. He winced guiltily realising that the girl was scared of him and didn't want to be near him. Honestly… he couldn't blame her.

"Sweetie, I'm sure your mom would prefer you not be here," Maddie reasoned calmly with a warm smile. Violet glanced nervously at Danny.

"Is your adopted daughter here? She can look after Violet," Danny suggested. Maddie frowned slightly at him before nodding.

"Danielle is in her room doing homework. Is there something you haven't told us?" Maddie replied, fixing her son with a concerned look. Danny swallowed thickly before glancing at the lab door. Maddie blinked, realising instantly that there was something else wrong. But Maddie knew better than to push her son to tell her everything when in company. Jack returned with an armful of supplies that moment.

"Jack, could you call Danielle down here please?" Maddie requested, burying her concern for her son. Jack blinked in surprise, glancing at Danny, before nodding and quickly scaling the stairs into the kitchen in order to shout for Danielle.

A few minutes later Jack returned with Danielle, having explained what he knew of the situation. Danielle came down into the lab with a friendly smile.

"Hey, you're Violet right? I'm Danielle, but you can call me Dani. Come on, we can watch TV upstairs and I'll get you some tea and something to eat. Sound good?" Danielle greeted the young girl brightly. Violet glanced at her mother, Maddie was giving her some painkiller, before taking Danielle's offered hand carefully. Danny watched the girl leave with Danielle.

"Do you need me here?" Danny muttered. Jack turned to his son before he shook his head slowly.

"We'll be fine," he answered.

"Then I'd better go," Danny decided and phased out of the house before either parent could stop or question him.

 **Any guesses where Danny is going?**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

Sam sighed softly as she gazed sadly at a picture of her and Danny. It was taken during their last year at Casper High. Sam remembered the picture well. Danny was trying to kiss her in the picture but she was pushing him away while laughing. Tucker had offered to take the picture and teased them about being lovebirds. Danny, ever the joker, had decided to take Tucker's joke to heart and show off. Sam hated arguing with Danny. But she was scared for him. No, she was terrified for him. She didn't want him to get hurt or to hurt someone else. She knew that Danny would feel exceptionally guilty if he did hurt someone. She didn't regret confronting her boyfriend but she feared what would happen next.

She cried out in surprise when a loud knock on her window startled her. She spun around to see Danny in his ghost form waiting for her to open the window to talk. She raised an eyebrow as she placed her picture on her beside cabinet. She got to her feet and crossed her room. She opened the window ready to assure him that she meant what she said in the park but he beat her.

"You were right," he told her, his voice told her instantly that something had happened. She blinked before stepping to one side, signalling for him to come inside. He didn't hesitate to phase into the room and land in front of her. Sam frowned slightly in concern. He looked scared of something.

"You were right. I do have a problem. I… I hurt someone," Danny informed her regret clear in his voice.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"I… there was a ghost. I was patrolling, trying to get rid of some frustration after our argument. I saw a ghost and I went to stop it. But… I wouldn't let it go. It was harmless. A prankster but harmless. But a part of me didn't care. I wanted a fight and that's all that mattered. I was going to hurt it. But then someone shouted to me and I accidently fired a ghost ray. It hit a woman. Sam, I hurt a woman really bad," Danny recounted for her, grabbing his white hair with panic as he realised exactly how much he lost control of himself.

Sam gasped and quickly pulled him into a reassuring hug. He held on to her tightly, clearly needing the reassurance. Sam shut her eyes in sympathy as she felt that her boyfriend was shaking.

"I didn't want to be right Danny," Sam whispered apologetically. Danny took a shuddering breath, clearly close to breaking down. She led him to her bed and sat with him. He pulled away and fumbled with his belt before handing her his thermos.

"Keep that away from me. I… I can't be tempted," Danny requested with determination. Sam gently took the thermos and nodded.

"You know that you need to tell the others," Sam muttered.

"Yeah, I know. I would have told my parents already but they're treating Emily," Danny agreed. Sam frowned in confusion.

"The woman I hurt," Danny clarified, his eyes dimming with regret at the reminder of what he did.

Sam nodded. She bit her lip lightly as she considered how to encourage and support her boyfriend in his choice. To be perfectly honest, she didn't know what she should do.

"Maybe you could change back to human and stay here while you wait for Emily to get treated," Sam suggested. Danny nodded numbly and closed his eyes to focus on his human half. He frowned before his eyes snapped open in alarm.

"I can't change!" he exclaimed fearfully.

"What? Are you sure?" Sam retorted, also alarmed. Danny nodded as he tried again and again. Sam frowned slightly in thought as an idea occurred to her.

"When did you last drain a power unit?" Sam asked. Danny blinked.

"Just before I started patrolling. About half hour after our argument," Danny answered.

"Maybe you have too much ghost energy to change back to human. I mean, ghost energy has to affect your human half right, maybe it overpowers it and drowns it out," Sam guessed. Danny frowned in thought.

"So… how do I fix it?" he mumbled worriedly.

"Do you have those dead power units? Try charging them," Sam offered. Danny dug his hand into his jumpsuit pocket and pulled out two dead power units. He fisted his hand around them and charged his hand with his ghost ray. He charged the power units as much as he could before holding them out for Sam to see. She smiled at him, pleased to see him listening to her again.

"Put them in here," she decided and held out the thermos. Danny obediently did as she said. He then closed his eyes and bright white rings appeared around his waist before splitting and changing him into his human form.

"How do you feel?" Sam inquired worriedly. Danny bit his lip worriedly.

"I feel fine. I shouldn't though. I should feel tired," Danny admitted worriedly. Sam frowned worriedly but for now they could do nothing but wait for Danny's parents to get involved. They were the experts after all. Despite Danny's ghost half, he didn't know everything. So instead, Sam pulled him over to herself and embraced him, trying to comfort him while they waited. They both knew his parents would call Danny's cell phone once they were finished to find out what happened.

 **Yep, Danny's now going to quit draining power units.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **It's Christmas Eve! And as promised two chapters. Make sure you didn't miss the last one by accident. I would have split them a bit more but I'm not going to be able to get back on here for the rest of the day. So you get them both together! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

They had been sitting quietly for almost an hour before Danny's phone started ringing. Danny took a deep breath and answered the call.

"Hey," he croaked before clearing his throat.

"Danny, what's going on? What happened when Emily got hurt?" Maddie demanded to know. Danny swallowed nervously.

"I… I lost control. I need to tell you guys something. But… it's probably better I do it in person," Danny admitted, glancing at Sam's encouraging face.

"Danny, you're scaring me," Maddie whispered worriedly.

"I'll explain. I promise," Danny vowed.

"Alright. When will you be back?" Maddie asked.

"I'm at Sam's. I'll be there in a few minutes. Is Jazz home? And Tucker? I would like them to be there too," Danny requested.

"Jazz came home about ten minutes ago," Maddie confirmed worriedly.

"I'll collect Tucker and be there as soon as possible," Danny decided before hanging up.

Danny glanced at Sam, she was already ringing Tucker for him. Danny smiled at her appreciatively.

"Hey Tucker. Look, we need to have a meeting at Fenton Works. I'm with Danny. He can collect you on the way. So where are you?" Sam explained. Sam glanced at Danny and flashed him a reassuring smile as Tucker replied.

"No. It'll be easier to wait until we're all together," Sam retorted and paused when Tucker said something else.

"Yeah. I know what's going on. Tucker, just… wait okay? I promised to wait," Sam pleaded. She nodded before hanging up.

"He's at home packing for college," Sam informed Danny. He sucked in a sharp breath before standing and changing into his ghost half nervously. Sam stood up and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"It's gonna be fine Danny. I'm gonna be here for you," Sam assured him. Danny smiled nervously at her before phasing out of the house and flew to Tucker's house carrying Sam.

Tucker tried to ask Danny what was going on but Danny refused to talk further than greeting his friend, Sam did most of the talking. It wasn't long before everyone was gathered in the Fenton Works living room waiting for Danny to speak. Danny was sitting in the armchair, Sam beside him on the arm. Jazz was scrutinising her brother worriedly from the kitchen chair she brought in to sit on. She couldn't help but recall her conversation with Sam the day before. Maddie and Jack were on the couch with Danielle and Tucker had grabbed a second chair from the kitchen to sit on himself.

"What's going on dude?" Tucker encouraged, breaking the tense silence. Danny glanced at his friend.

"I… I don't know how to tell you this," Danny whispered.

"It's alright Danny. Just start at the beginning," Sam muttered soothingly. Danny nodded stiffly.

"I… I've been… why is this so hard!?" Danny growled, tugging at his hair in frustration.

"Does this have anything to do with our conversation yesterday Sam?" Jazz asked unexpectedly. Danny frowned in confusion while Sam bit her lip uncertainly.

"What conversation?" Danny inquired. Sam sighed before nodding to Jazz.

"I asked Jazz for advice when I suspected you had a problem," Sam admitted quietly. Danny blinked before nodding slowly, he was upset that Sam reached out to his sister but he didn't blame her.

"Do you?" Jazz pressed worriedly. Danny sighed softly before nodding. Jazz's eyes widened before she sat forward, slipping into her psychologist mind set.

"What have you been using?" She asked seriously. Danny closed his eyes with regret.

"What is going on?" Maddie interjected with confusion. Danny glanced at her. Sam took his hand reassuringly.

"I'm… I've been… I have… an addiction," Danny stammered, flinching at the word. Danielle, Tucker, Maddie and Jack gasped and stared at him with horrified surprise.

"What have you been using Danny?" Jazz pressed firmly. Danny lifted his gaze to look at his sister.

"It's… complicated. I've not been using drugs. But… I am addicted," Danny ventured. Jazz frowned in confusion.

"You know how I can charge ghost weapons?" Danny began, glancing around at everyone as they nodded. Danny swallowed nervously.

"I can also drain them," Danny confessed.

"What do you mean son?" Jack asked, confusion clear. Danny glanced nervously at Sam who nodded encouragingly.

"I can take the energy out of the weapon and use it for myself. I… drained one the night before I left for my exams and took a thermos with me to keep me going. I've… I've been doing it ever since," Danny revealed.

"So that's how you were so awake that morning!" Danielle gasped. Danny sighed and nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Danielle inquired with a frown.

"Because… I knew it was risky. I promised myself that it would be a one time thing. But I needed that energy to get through the exams. At least that's what I told myself," Danny answered quietly.

"Why not tell us afterwards though?" Maddie retorted worriedly.

"I kept telling myself that I just didn't want to worry you guys. But I think I was lying to myself. I… I didn't want to admit I had a problem and I didn't want to stop. I was worried that you would force me to stop," Danny admitted softly. Jazz nodded slightly in understanding.

"Why did you tell Sam then?" Tucker asked his friend, hurt barely hidden in his voice.

"I didn't. She caught me. I drained her ecto-gun during a date a few days ago. I convinced her to keep it a secret. She didn't want to though but she promised not to tell anyone unless they asked first," Danny explained.

"How is this connected to what happened?" Maddie wondered. Danny closed his eyes with clear regret.

"Sam told me earlier today that the power units were doing stuff to me. She said my hair was turning white and my eyes were turning green and glowing. But she also told me that I was getting aggressive, especially in ghost fights. I didn't want to listen. I walked away and decided to go patrolling. I… I wanted to find a ghost. I wanted a fight. But before I started patrolling, I drained a couple of power units. When I found a ghost, I dunno what happened. I knew it was harmless but I was just so angry and hostile. I couldn't let it walk away. Someone shouted at me and I accidently fired a ghost ray. It hit Emily. I snapped out of it then and rushed to help her. But… I realised that Sam was right," Danny recounted for everyone.

"Danny, you have to stop," Danielle decided. Danny nodded.

"I know. I've already given Sam my thermos and I'm not going anywhere near the lab until I know I can resist that temptation," Danny agreed.

"It's not gonna be easy little brother," Jazz warned softly. Danny glanced at her before nodding. He didn't expect it to be easy.

 **The truth is out.**

 **I will be going into the first few days of Danny's quitting draining power units but this is nearly finished.**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Happy Christmas everyone! This is the first of two chapters I'll post today.**

 **I'd also like to take the time to thank everyone who sent my birthday wishes. It really touched me. So thank you.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16

It was hours after Danny's confession. Sam had sat with Danny in the living room while everyone else went through the house and locked all power units into the weapons vault which had been upgraded years ago to be phase-proof. Jazz changed the password to prevent Danny unlocking the door if he got desperate. Tucker even went through the halfa's room, and found two spare thermoses and a drained ecto-gun. However once that was all done, everyone returned to the living room for some Chinese takeaway.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea that you go back to college on Monday Danny," Maddie remarked. Danny nodded glumly, playing with his rice sadly. He felt terrible. Both because he hurt Emily but also because he now realised how bad he had gotten.

"Actually mom, it might be better that Danny go back. He won't be here where there are a lot of temptations. It might be the perfect way to make sure he doesn't relapse," Jazz interjected. Sam glanced sympathetically at her boyfriend, who only sank deeper into his seat in shame.

"But if he's at college we won't be able to watch him. What if he gets sick from withdrawal?" Maddie countered.

Danny glanced at the time, wondering if it was late enough to excuse himself to bed. He doubted he'd get to sleep because he hadn't been sleeping much since he started draining power units. He blinked and bit his lip. His instant thought had been it would be another hour before his power units wore off. That only made him feel worse. He was an addict. How had he not realised it before? How could he have let it get this bad? He was supposed to be Amity Park's hero. What kind of hero got addicted to something like ghost energy power units?

Danielle saw Danny's increase in glumness and as she was sitting beside him, she leant closer to him.

"What's up Danny?" Danielle whispered. Danny shook his head.

"I just can't believe I let this happen," Danny mumbled softly. Danielle frowned worriedly at him. The female halfa glanced at Maddie and Jazz as they resumed debating on whether or not Danny should go back to college.

"Hey! Maybe we could give it a break. Talk about something else," Danielle suggested loudly. Maddie and Jazz blinked in surprise before noticing Danny's upset posture and expression. They nodded obediently.

"What should we talk about then?" Maddie asked, watching her son.

"This semester I'm gonna be programming a website. But I dunno what I'm gonna do it about yet. Any suggestions?" Tucker offered. Danielle smiled encouragingly and glanced at Danny hopefully. However Danny was hardly listening to the conversation, too busy beating himself up about his addiction. For the next fifteen minutes, the others debated on what Tucker could do his website about as they ate. Danny sighed and put his half-eaten portion of rice down.

"I'm not hungry. I should check on some stuff for college. I don't know my lecture timetable yet," Danny announced softly before trudging upstairs to his room, not waiting for anyone to reply.

Danny sighed loudly as he flopped down on his bed and stared at his ceiling sadly. He shut his eyes as another wave of shame hit him. He couldn't forget Jazz's judgemental scowl. He couldn't forget his parent's horrified stares. He couldn't forget Violet's terrified face. He rolled off the bed on to his feet and grabbed his backpack. As he pulled out his laptop, he glanced up at his mirror and sighed as he finally saw how his eyes swirled with green and his human black hair was peppered with white. He dropped his backpack and dropped back on his bed. He turned the device on and calmly logged on to his college's website and found his new timetable. He grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the times, locations and lecture modules.

He then turned off the laptop and returned it to his backpack. He stared at his reflection.

"How did I not see this?" Danny whispered to his reflection.

"You didn't want to," a voice answered from the doorway. Danny glanced over his shoulder using the mirror and spotted Sam. She was the only one he didn't see looking disappointed when she looked at him.

"I'm sorry Sam. I should have listened to you from the start," Danny muttered as he turned to her. Sam smiled sadly and wrapped him in a hug.

"We all make mistakes," she remarked softly in his ear. Danny nodded.

"But this is a massive mistake. I… I could have killed someone Sam. I lost control. I wasn't going to let Prankster go. What if it had been a human instead of a ghost? What if there wasn't anyone there to shout some sense into me?" Danny retorted emotionally.

"Danny, stop. That didn't happen. You're not going to let that happen again right?" Sam interjected sternly, pulling away to look into his eyes. He nodded with conviction.

"Then that won't happen. We're here for you Danny. Don't shut us out," Sam assured him. Danny shook his head.

"I'm not shutting you out. Any of you. It's just… I couldn't stand everyone looking at me like that. And… honestly I'm scared what's gonna happen soon," Danny replied. Sam frowned in concern.

"What do you mean?" Sam pressed worriedly.

"If I wasn't quitting, I'd be draining a power unit in the next ten minutes or so," Danny admitted. Sam's eyes widened in understanding.

"Do you want to be alone then? Or do you want me here? I'll do whatever you want," Sam questioned worriedly. Danny bit his lip before sighing.

"You really don't mind staying with me?" Danny muttered. Sam smiled reassuringly and shook her head before pulling him to sit with her on his bed.

"I told you. I'm here for you," Sam confirmed reassuringly.

 **Any guesses what will happen once the power units wear off?**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Merry Christmas! Again. Well I posted two chapters today as promised, make sure you didn't accidentally skip one. I hope everyone had plenty of fun and delicious food. But tomorrow, back to normal for this fanfic. A chapter a day.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

Danny glanced at the clock on his bedside cabinet. Sam frowned slightly with worry. They'd been sitting in his room together for nearly an hour and Danny was obviously very anxious right now. He was almost constantly fidgeting at this point. Sam startled as her phone vibrated with another text. Tucker had been texting her, checking that everything was alright with Danny. Sam pulled out her phone and chewed her lip nervously as she tried to figure out how to answer.

"Tucker?" Danny asked. Sam sighed and nodded. He knew the others were texting his girlfriend. He didn't mind. As long as he could have this space from them, away from the ashamed gazes.

"Are you doing okay?" Sam inquired worriedly. Danny tapped his fingers on his thigh before shrugging.

"I'm really fighting myself honestly. I want nothing more than to go down to the lab and break into the vault to get a power unit. But I'm fine I guess," Danny answered truthfully.

Sam decided to text back to Tucker saying that Danny was managing. It wasn't exactly a reassuring reply but it was honest. Sam then took Danny's hand and snuggled close to him.

"I'm here for you. Anything I can do for you, just ask," Sam murmured. Danny nodded gratefully.

"I could use a really good distraction actually," Danny mumbled worriedly. He wasn't sure how much longer he could resist his need for a power unit. The knowledge that there were dozens if not hundreds just downstairs out of reach was torture. He was starting to see Jazz's point about it being better if he left for college.

Sam smiled calmly before kissing him passionately on the lips. Danny kissed her back eagerly, desperate for the distraction and it was working, if only a little. Sam could tell that Danny was distracted as she kissed him but she understood and refused to get upset about it. She was doing this for him, not to have a passionate moment with him. However after a few minutes, Danny broke the kiss and put a hand to his head. Sam frowned worriedly. Her boyfriend looked a little pale.

"Danny? You okay?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"No. I just… I feel really faint," Danny muttered softly. Sam frowned worriedly as she shifted her position to survey his face. She blinked in surprise. His eyes looked almost normal now. Danny sat up.

"I think I just need some air," he suggested quietly but the moment he got to his feet, he swayed weakly before stumbling back onto the bed.

"Danny!?" Sam exclaimed worriedly as she scrambled to his side. Danny smiled at her blearily.

"I thought this might happen," he mumbled. Sam gasped fearfully as his head lolled to the side and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Danny! Please, don't! Wake up! Just let me know you're gonna wake up!" Sam pleaded, terrified.

Danny's bedroom door burst open as Maddie barged into the room, having heard Sam's shouts. She gasped fearfully as she saw her son sprawled on his bed with his girlfriend desperately trying to wake him. The mother ran forward and grabbed her son's wrist, checking his pulse. Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead. His pulse seemed to be normal, maybe a little slow.

"What happened?" Maddie asked Sam. The Goth looked up at her, tears rolling down her cheeks, black with mascara.

"He was anxious but fine. He-he wanted a distraction. So I started kissing him. Next thing we know he felt faint. He-he stood up to get some air before he fell back down. He told me he didn't want to stop because he was worried what would happen. He thought he might fall into a coma!" Sam explained hysterically. Maddie's eyes widened in alarm.

"He didn't tell us that!" Maddie exclaimed. Sam shook her head, trying to regain control of herself enough to explain what she knew.

"He wasn't sure if that was him just making excuses or not," Sam added softly. Maddie bit her lip before carefully moving her son so that he was on his bed fully and pulled off his shoes.

"We'll wait and see if he gets worse. If he's not awake by tomorrow morning, we'll call for an ambulance," Maddie decided. Sam sniffled and nodded, clutching Danny's hand worriedly.

Maddie hesitated a moment before leaving her son's bedroom and returning to the living room.

"What happened?" Jack asked instantly.

"Danny collapsed. He actually expressed a concern to Sam before that he might fall into a coma if he stopped draining power units," Maddie informed them gravely. The room was suddenly tense with fear and worry.

"Is he alright now?" Danielle ventured, breaking the silence. Maddie sighed softly.

"I… I don't know. He's unconscious right now. I suggested to Sam that we wait until morning before calling the ambulance. He might wake up on his own. But if he gets worse, then we'll have to react accordingly," Maddie answered uncertainly.

"How's Sam?" Tucker whispered worriedly.

"Scared and worried. She's still with him. I don't think we should leave Danny alone tonight either. We need to watch him," Maddie replied.

"I doubt Sam will agree to leaving Danny but we could do shifts in there to keep her company," Jazz suggested.

 **Will Danny wake up!?**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18

"Sam, you should get some sleep. There's no point making yourself sick," Danny heard Tucker mutter softly.

"No. I told Danny I'd be there for him. I don't go back on my word," Sam refused stubbornly. Tucker sighed loudly but dropped the topic. Danny slowly opened his eyes. He felt so tired. And weak. If only he could drain a power unit. He knew he'd feel better instantly. His eyes fell closed again as he mentally berated himself angrily. He had to stop thinking that. The power units weren't the answer. He couldn't rely on them. Never again.

"Danny?" Sam called, noticing his slight scowl despite not noticing that he had opened his eyes. He hummed softly and tiredly opened his eyes again to peer through the dim light at his girlfriend. His desk lamp was on. Sam exclaimed joyfully and embraced him.

"I thought you wouldn't wake up!" Sam sobbed as she began crying. Danny blinked as he struggled to sit up.

"Easy dude. It's alright," Tucker reassured him across the room.

Danny fell back onto his pillows, exhausted by the mere act of trying and _failing_ to sit up. Sam pulled away and kissed him before wiping her face clumsily.

"How do you feel?" she asked worriedly.

"Tired," Danny croaked weakly.

"Do you want something to eat?" Tucker suggested helpfully. Danny shook his head slowly.

"No. Thanks though. How long have I been out?" Danny muttered weakly.

"Almost seven hours," Sam answered softly. Danny frowned slightly.

"What happened?" Danny wondered softly. The last thing he remembered was kissing Sam to distract himself from wanting to drain a power unit before he got up to get some air, feeling faint.

"You passed out," Sam told him, frowning worriedly at him. Danny nodded slowly in understanding.

"You okay Danny?" Tucker inquired worriedly as he watched his friend struggle to stay awake.

"I'm just tired," Danny mumbled sleepily.

"Then sleep. We'll let everyone know you woke up. You really scared us. We didn't know whether or not to call for an ambulance," Tucker replied with a slight chuckle. Danny smiled tiredly but fell asleep again. Sam ran her fingers through his hair lovingly as she held his hand.

"Now will you get some sleep Sam? I'll stay here with him," Tucker asked hopefully. Sam bit her lip before shaking her head.

"I'll sleep when everyone else is awake," she compromised. Tucker rolled his eyes but didn't argue.

"Do you think Danny will be okay?" Sam whispered after a brief silence. Tucker glanced at the sleeping halfa before nodding.

"Yeah. Danny's been through worse. But I think the next few days are gonna be brutal for him. I'm not sure Danny should be going back to college yet," Tucker answered. Sam nodded slowly.

"Maybe I should stay with him until he's better," Sam muttered to herself worriedly. Tucker frowned slightly.

"Sam, you can't just drop everything for Danny you know. You have a life too," Tucker pointed out. Sam nodded.

"I know but he needs me. I think he's not comfortable being around anyone else right now," Sam told him. Tucker frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Tucker pressed.

"Tucker. Danny's ashamed of what happened. He feels terrible about it. And… you guys aren't helping. He didn't mean to get addicted. He didn't even realise that he was until he hurt that woman by accident. He started this because he didn't want to fail college. He kept it up because he wanted to help out Danielle so she didn't flunk her classes. He knew he was dependent. That made him worry what would happen if he stopped. Those were his reasons for letting this happen. He didn't know ghost energy was addictive. But instead of understanding, you guys are judging him for it. Jazz is constantly looking at him with her psychologist face. His mom and dad are disappointed. Danielle too and she's always looked up to him. And… I know you're hurt that he didn't tell you after I found out. That's why he came up here. That and because he knew the power units were gonna wear off soon," Sam explained sadly, her gaze never lifting from her sleeping boyfriend's.

Tucker blinked and watched his friend quietly. He hadn't thought about it like that. He knew that Danny had started for a good reason. But he hadn't heard why Danny didn't stop once the exams were over. Danny had been too ashamed to explain further. Sam was right. Tucker did feel hurt and upset that Danny had confided in Sam and not him. But he didn't want to make this harder for Danny. He frowned suddenly and turned to Sam, who hadn't moved.

"Why is he comfortable around you then?" Tucker wondered.

"Because I knew beforehand. Tucker, you didn't see him. Before he drained power units he got so fidgety and anxious and then once he did drain one, he was normal again. His eyes might glow a bit for a few minutes but he didn't behave any different. At first I believed him. He told me he was fine and that the energy didn't hurt him. I was worried still but… I believed him. Then I started noticing how aggressive he was getting in ghost fights. Then his eyes and hair. I'm just relieved that he's realised the truth before something irreversible happened, like he killed someone or hurt himself with that energy," Sam answered calmly. Tucker blinked before lowering his gaze to his hands. He was starting to see that Danny hadn't acted completely irresponsibly by getting addicted. Obviously he hadn't understood how those power units truly affected him.

"The funny thing is… I think those power units were a good thing to start with," Sam suddenly commented with a slight frown.

"How could those things ever be good?" Tucker retorted incredulously.

"Danny was going to fail those exams Tucker. We all know that. He didn't have enough time to study. He missed plenty of lectures and forgot assignments. In fact, Danny told me that he had missed a lecture when an important paper was handed out. If he hadn't used those power units back then, I think he would have burnt himself out and failed. It was when he got back and became dependent on them that it got bad," Sam clarified glancing at Tucker.

"So, you think we should let this happen again?" Tucker remarked with a confused scowl. Sam shook her head.

"No. Not this. But… if he needs an energy boost, then why not let him drain a power unit? I'm not saying he should use them all the time again. Just… in emergencies," Sam corrected. Tucker sighed softly in thought.

"We'll discuss it with his parents and Jazz. What if this is like alcoholics? You know, one drink and they're hooked again," Tucker decided. Sam nodded in agreement.

 **Just the suggestion that maybe in moderation, draining power units could be good for Danny.**

 **And yeah, of course Danny woke up. If he didn't then how did A Ghostly Crisis happen right?**

 **Anyway, let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Christmas is officially over now. But I did post plenty of chapters over the holiday so make sure you didn't miss any.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

Early the next morning, Maddie poked her head into her son's bedroom. Sam had fallen asleep holding Danny's hand and Tucker was tapping absentmindedly on his PDA. Maddie sighed sadly. Her son wasn't awake. Tucker heard the sigh and looked up to see Maddie gazing worriedly at Danny.

"It's okay. He woke up in the night. He was still really tired and fell asleep a few minutes later though," Tucker informed the woman quietly, mindful of Sam who had only fallen asleep less than an hour ago. Maddie's worried expression broke into a broad relieved grin.

"Thank goodness, I was about to go ring for an ambulance," Maddie commented. Tucker smiled at her before tapping on his PDA again. Maddie raised an eyebrow at her son's friend.

"What's wrong Tucker?" she asked, perching against her son's seldom used desk.

"I was talking with Sam last night. Some of the stuff she said got me thinking," Tucker muttered softly.

"What did she say?" Maddie inquired curiously.

"That Danny didn't mean to get addicted. That he didn't realise that those power units were bad for him. He started draining power units to help him cope with his exams and then he kept doing it to let Dani focus on her school stuff. He knew he was dependent but he didn't realise it was an addiction. Sam said that at first she believed him until she noticed he was more aggressive in fights," Tucker revealed, glancing at his friend with an unreadable frown. Maddie blinked.

"I'm sure that Danny didn't mean to get addicted. No one goes looking to have an addiction," Maddie remarked. Tucker shook his head.

"No. That's not what I mean and that's not what Sam meant either. Danny didn't realise what was happening to him. He drained those power units with good intentions and then feared the consequences of stopping. That's how the addiction started," Tucker clarified.

Maddie sighed softly. She understood what Tucker meant. It wasn't Danny's fault. But he should know better than to mess with ghost energy like he did. She understood her son's reasoning but she was still disappointed in him for endangering his life and later other people because of his reckless experiment on himself. There were repeats if he had failed his exams. He didn't need to go to such extremes to get a good grade. She would have understood a bad grade. She wouldn't have been angry at all. But this… this stupid disregard for his own safety, she was angry and disappointed. It wasn't even the fact that he got addicted that upset her. It was that one night when he first attempted and succeeded in draining a power unit. What if his next experiment got him killed? His health wasn't something he should play around with.

"Sam also thinks that Danny's not comfortable around anyone but her right now," Tucker informed Maddie after a lengthy silence. Maddie snapped out of her musings and stared at Tucker.

"What?" she prompted in confusion.

"She said that Danny feels ashamed of what happened and can't handle everyone being disappointed in him for getting addicted," Tucker elaborated. Part of Maddie wanted to say that if he couldn't handle the consequences then he shouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place. But she knew there was no point in pointing that out. She sighed softly.

"I'm not disappointed that he became addicted. I'm disappointed that he played with his health during the exams by draining those power units. His addiction is more a consequence of the reason I'm upset with him than the actual reason," Maddie corrected softly. Tucker nodded.

"I get it. But this is gonna be hard for him without us all being angry at him. He's learned his lesson. Maybe we should just drop it," Tucker suggested.

Maddie bit her lip and turned to her son again. She understood where Tucker was coming from. She really did. But she wasn't the type of person who forgave and forgot without something to go on whether that be something big such as a heartfelt action or small like a genuine apology. She wasn't sure her son understood exactly how much he risked that first night that led to this addiction. But having said that, she decided to not bring it up until Danny had recovered, at least enough to be able to leave his bed.

A few minutes later Danielle poked her head in and Tucker and Maddie spotted her.

"Well? Anything?" Danielle prompted worriedly.

"He woke up for a few minutes last night," Tucker answered. Danielle grinned happily before turning to Maddie.

"Great, what's for breakfast?" she inquired cheerfully. Maddie chuckled softly as she stood up to go to the kitchen and start breakfast for the household. Danielle followed the woman. Tucker sighed softly but didn't leave his seat. He knew he shouldn't leave Danny, especially since Sam had fallen asleep and wouldn't be ready to assure him or help the halfa if something happened.

 **Just everyone coming to terms with what happened really. I mean they aren't gonna just ignore what happened right?**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

It was four in the afternoon before Danny woke up again. Sam was sitting beside him still and Danielle happened to be in the room keeping the older girl company. Sam smiled at him.

"Feeling better?" she asked warmly. Danny nodded slowly. He felt a lot more awake this time.

"Hungry Danny? I can go get you something," Danielle offered cautiously. Tucker had spoken to the others about what Sam told him. Danny swallowed with difficulty before nodding.

"Yeah, I am actually. And I really need a drink," Danny admitted in a rasping voice. Danielle nodded and phased through the floor to the kitchen below.

Danny struggled to sit up and Sam quickly helped him, seeing that he was too weak to do so alone. Danny leant his head back against the wall tiredly. He shoved down the longing thought of a power unit. Danielle returned a few minutes later with a glass of water and a plate of sandwiches. Danny took the glass gratefully but nearly dropped it. He couldn't believe how weak he was. Sam quickly helped him, suggesting that Danielle get Danny a straw to make it easier to drink. The younger halfa happily rushed off to source the request.

He grabbed a sandwich and hungrily bit into it. His taste buds tingled from how hungry he was, however by the time he finished the first sandwich he felt exhausted by the chewing.

"Maybe Dani should have gotten you soup or something," Sam muttered worriedly, seeing her boyfriend's exhaustion.

"Maybe but she didn't know. Where is everyone else?" Danny replied softly. Sam helped him drink some more water before answering.

"Your parents are at the hospital visiting Emily. They wanted to make sure that her burn was healing alright. Tucker had to go home to finish packing for college. Jazz is actually downstairs doing some stuff for college," Sam told him. Danny winced at the mention of the woman he hurt.

"Danny, don't worry. Your parents have tons of experience treating ectoplasmic burns. Remember that time Tucker held one of those p- I mean, the time he burnt his hand really badly. There isn't even a scar," Sam comforted him, stopping herself from mentioning the source of his addiction. Danny shut his eyes as shame and guilt hit him. He knew exactly what Sam had been about to say. Sam mentally slapped herself.

"I'm sorry Danny. I didn't mean-" Sam began.

"No, it's fine Sam. It's my own stupid fault. I should have listened to you," Danny interrupted. Sam gently touched his face and turned him to look in her eyes.

"Danny, look at me. I'm not judging you. I know you didn't mean for this to happen. You made a mistake. It's okay. I'm here for you. I'm not going back to college until you're back on your feet," Sam reassured him with a smile. She had decided the night before.

"What? No! Sam, don't throw your life away because of me," Danny protested. Sam scoffed.

"I'm not throwing my life away. My family's rich. I can afford another year at college if I have to repeat. Besides, I promised you I'd support you and you need me. I've made up my mind," Sam retorted. Danny stared at her in stunned silence.

Suddenly he leant forward as much as he was able and kissed her. Sam melted into the kiss but he broke it quickly.

"I don't deserve you," he whispered. Sam shook her head, pressing her forehead to his.

"No, you do. I don't deserve you. You risked your health to make sure Dani didn't flunk out of school and to ensure you were able to protect everyone. I know it went too far. But that was your motive," Sam muttered.

"Am I interrupting something?" Danielle asked as she walked back into the room with a straw and a pitcher of water. Sam smirked at her.

"No, nothing Dani. Thanks for getting that straw," Sam replied as she took the straw from the younger girl and filled Danny's glass with the pitcher.

Danny grabbed a second sandwich and tiredly began eating it. He was exhausted but he was also starving. Danielle blinked in surprise, shocked by Danny's weakness. She glanced at Sam who was eating one of the sandwiches herself, watching her boyfriend worriedly. Danielle swallowed thickly and vowed to herself that she would never try to drain a power unit. She hadn't figured out how to charge one yet but she could see the terrible consequences of draining power units and she wasn't going to risk it herself.

 **So that's why Danielle never asked to learn how to charge or drain ghost weapons.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	21. Chapter 21

It had taken a lot of effort but Danny managed to finish the plate of sandwiches with Sam. Danielle took the plate and phased down to the kitchen with it, refilling the pitcher for Danny. Sam gently took Danny's hand in hers and smiled at him.

"If you want to sleep, it's okay. I can see you're tired," Sam told him warmly. Danny shook his head.

"I want to wait until mom and dad get back with news on Emily," Danny admitted.

"I'll let you know when you wake up," Sam offered. Danny smiled at her and pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it, trying not to show how much effort the action took.

"I want to hear for myself. But thanks Sam," Danny replied. Sam nodded, worried about him regardless. She wasn't fooled by him. She knew he was tired.

Thankfully it didn't take long for Maddie and Jack to return. Sam and Danny could hear Jack stomping around the kitchen below, loudly searching for some fudge. Maddie appeared a few minutes later with the pitcher of water Danielle went to get but obviously got distracted before she could return with it. The woman smiled brightly at seeing her son awake.

"Danny, how do you feel?" Maddie asked warmly, setting the pitcher down on his bedside cabinet.

"I'm fine mom. Tired but fine," Danny replied. Maddie sat beside him on the bed and smiled happily at him.

"I'm so glad to hear that sweetie," Maddie cooed. Danny raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sam. His mother was acting weird, oddly optimistic and cheery. Sam smirked at him.

"How's Emily?" Sam asked on Danny's behalf, seeing he was both too surprised by Maddie's behaviour and too afraid to ask.

"She's fine. Healing nicely actually. Unfortunately there will be some scarring but it should be minimal. But the hospital's releasing her in a couple of days," Maddie answered, glancing worriedly at Danny. Danny smiled at the news.

"Now you can get some sleep," Sam told him with a warm smile. Danny rolled his eyes at her but didn't argue. Maddie's smile faltered as worry flashed across her face.

"Did you eat something? You should eat," Maddie inquired worriedly, getting to her feet.

"Dani brought me some sandwiches. I'm fine mom. I'm just really tired," Danny interjected before his mother could run off to get him more food. The sandwiches were exhausting enough to eat. Maddie bit her lip worriedly but nodded. She watched as Sam helped Danny lay back down and he was soon fast asleep.

"I didn't realise he would be so weak," Sam muttered quietly as she gingerly moved Danny's hair out of his slumbering face.

"He's probably recovering from the lack of sleep this past month. He mentioned that he had less appetite too, so he probably didn't eat much either. Once he catches up, he'll probably be fine," Maddie theorised, not moving her concerned gaze from her son's relaxed face. Sam nodded, that made sense. She didn't remember seeing Danny eating for the last few days now that she thought about it. But he did tell her regularly that he ate breakfast or would grab something to eat at the Nasty Burger before patrolling. Danny did say that he had a smaller appetite but he did have one.

"I also believe I know why his human half was gaining ghostly qualities. The ghost energy didn't replace his human energy like sleep and food would. It just bolstered the energy present in his ghost half. So his ghost half became dominant and started to take over. I believe that if he had continued to "charge" himself he would have become locked in his ghost form until his energy levels returned to normal," Maddie informed her son's girlfriend thoughtfully.

"You're right. Danny got stuck as Phantom yesterday. He drained a couple of power units before he started patrolling and hurt Emily," Sam revealed. Maddie blinked in surprise before nodding.

"I can take over if you want to go home and get changed," Maddie offered. Sam smiled gratefully and agreed. Danny would be asleep for a while now.

 **So Danny's on the road to recovery. Emily will be fine.**

 **Very near the end now. I didn't expect this story to be so long to be honest. I planned for it to only be something like ten chapters and it just kept going.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	22. Chapter 22

Two days later and Danny had managed to recover enough to walk downstairs to the living room with Sam's help. He had been desperate for a change of scenery. He dropped onto the couch, exhausted. Danielle was at school, Jazz and Tucker were at college and Jack and Maddie were in the lab. Sam had packed up a few days worth of clothes into a bag and moved to Fenton Works, sleeping in the guest room. Danny had managed to get back into a normal routine of sleeping most of the night. Although his first trip to the bathroom had been tricky as he hadn't been strong enough to walk alone.

Danielle and his parents had taken over all ghost problems. Luckily it seemed to be a quiet period for now so they didn't actually need Danny. Hopefully Danny would be able to leave for college by next week and will only miss the first week back. Sam appeared with a glass of water, he hadn't even noticed that she had left his side. He gratefully took the glass and gulped half of it down. Sam took it back and set it on the coffee table for him before settling beside him.

"You okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Just… wiped. Guess I wasn't ready to come down here. I am not looking forward to going back up," Danny remarked with a smirk that didn't reach his tired eyes.

"Maybe your dad could help you with the return trip, you're heavy," Sam grumbled as she massaged her shoulder lightly. Danny winced sympathetically.

"Sorry Sam. I really appreciate you staying with me for this," Danny replied. Sam smiled at him kindly, showing him that she really didn't mind being there for him. Danny smiled warmly at her. He casually reached up and put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently towards him. She came without question and kissed him back. He loved this girl. He couldn't imagine his life without her. This whole ordeal had only improved that to him all the more. He shifted slightly to make her more comfortable while they kissed passionately. He knew that one day he would ask Sam that question. He would ask her to marry him. Not yet. But… maybe after college was over.

"Danny, you're up!" Jack boomed happily, interrupting the couple. Sam tore her lips away from him and sat up, blushing bright red at being caught in such an intimate moment. Danny huffed softly and turned to his father. Jack winced as he realised his mistake.

"Sorry son. I didn't meant to… I was just glad to see you out of bed that's all," Jack apologised. Danny sighed away his irritation and smiled at his father.

"Me too. I was going stir crazy up there," Danny replied.

"Jack! Can you take Danny's lun- oh, you're up. That's wonderful sweetie. You must be feeling better," Maddie began before spotting her son sitting beside a bright red Sam. Danny smiled at his mother as she handed him a bowl of chicken soup and a plate of bread.

"Thanks. I'm getting better but I'm still pretty weak," Danny answered honestly. Maddie nodded before disappearing back into the kitchen and returned with three plates and a platter of sandwiches for Sam, Jack and herself.

They ate in companionable silence, only speaking to compliment Maddie's cooking or for general chit-chat. Once everyone was finished, Jack collected the dishes and took them into the kitchen. Maddie bit her lip before sighing. She had waited until Danny could walk but she wanted to broach the subject before it got forgotten. She wanted to understand why her son did something so reckless and dangerous as experimenting with draining a power unit in the first place.

 **I know a pretty short chapter but the next one is extra long to make up for it. It's also the last chapter.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **I really debated putting a second chapter up today but I've decided against it. We'll see the new year in with the last chapter of this not so mini-series.**

 **So, happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic year and here's hoping for an even better one to come.**

 **Don't forget to check out the advert on my facebook page for the next fanfic. So soon as the Phoenix's Secret Weapon is finished, that's going up.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	23. Chapter 23

"Danny… I've wanted to ask a question for a few days now. Do you feel up to answering it?" Maddie ventured. Danny blinked before nodding uncertainly. He could guess the topic. Despite still feeling ashamed about what happened and still feeling angry at himself for letting it happen, he did feel more comfortable talking about it. He had Sam to thank. She knew when to push and when to drop the subject. There wasn't much that she didn't know about his addiction. He had kept how the power units had made him feel to himself, mostly because he didn't want to recall that blissful and refreshing feeling. He was trying to quit, remembering how wonderful they had made him feel wouldn't help matters.

"Sweetie… I don't understand why you even drained power units to start with. I know why you didn't stop. And I can understand to a certain degree how your… addiction was formed. But I don't understand why you even risked doing something so dangerous," Maddie admitted. Sam glanced at Danny worriedly. She wasn't sure if her boyfriend was ready to open up about his addiction to others. Danny sighed.

"I didn't want to fail my exams," Danny answered simply with a shrug.

"I know that. But… sweetie there are repeat exams if you had failed. And you know your father and I would have understood," Maddie remarked. Danny shook his head. That wasn't the point.

"When I was in high school, I put Phantom above all else. I barely scraped through my final year. I know I missed a lot of days. I know my teachers gave up on me amounting to anything and when I got my final grade, so did I. I knew that with those grades, I'd never get anywhere near NASA and achieving my dream of being an astronaut," Danny began.

"Oh Danny," Maddie breathed sympathetically, having never realised how upset her son had been about doing badly in high school before. Danny took a deep breath before continuing.

"But then I met Sir Nick. He got me that job at Hogwarts and Minerva gave me a glowing reference to use to get into college. My dream was possible again. I almost felt like it was the world paying me back for giving up so much to be Phantom. I promised myself that I wasn't going to do what I did in high school. College would not be ignored for Phantom. It would be just as important to me. But I didn't want to just ignore my obligations here or force them on Dani. It didn't help that Valerie officially announced that she was retiring to focus on her own studies," Danny resumed.

"Sweetie, you know we didn't mind taking over," Maddie interrupted. Danny shook his head.

"That wasn't the point mom. Protecting Amity Park is my job. It's my responsibility to defend it against any attacking ghosts. I was willing to let Dani take over while I was at Hogwarts and while I was away at college, but not at the cost of her own education. She just got into a school and I didn't want her to miss out because I wasn't around to do _my_ job," Danny corrected passionately. Maddie nodded slowly, seeing how strongly her son felt about this.

"Anyway, like I said. I wanted to succeed in college without sacrificing my duties as Phantom. So I did my best to go to as many lectures as I was able. I studied as much as I could and did all the assignments I had time for. It was hard and I didn't always manage it all but I was doing okay. Then that spike in ghost attacks happened. The balance between college and Phantom was so delicate and the ghosts here tipped the balance. I had to abandon college to come back here to help Dani. It hurt but I had no choice. I couldn't let Dani flunk school just so I could succeed. But I didn't want to ignore my college work either. So I brought my stuff with me to study what I needed for the exams," Danny explained before he paused and shook his head sadly.

"Unfortunately the ghost attacks only got worse. I couldn't cope. I refused to back down and admit I was gonna fail these exams. But between ghost attacks, my health and college… there weren't enough hours in the day. Something had to give. I refused to let that be college. But I could ignore my responsibility to protect Amity Park. I started pulling all-nighters. I gave up my health. Stupid I know but… I was desperate. I didn't want to sacrifice my future to Phantom. Not after getting this second chance to achieve my dream. But it still wasn't enough. I was burning out. I was gonna break under the pressure and lack of sleep," Danny resumed.

"Sweetheart, you didn't have to put so much pressure on yourself," Maddie muttered, she felt terrible for what her son had felt. Danny nodded sadly.

"I know mom. But… I thought I had to. So… I was studying and I couldn't even focus enough to study. I had thought about using duplicates but I need to focus on those in order to maintain them and I needed all my concentration to study. So it defeated the purpose. That night before the exams… I knew I was gonna fail. I was desperate not to though. I was drinking a lot of coffee but it wasn't enough. I reached my limit. But I refused to give in. I accidently knocked over my thermos and I got thinking… if charging a power unit wiped me out then the opposite must be true if I drained one. So…. I tried it. It worked and I was able to keep going. But then the next day I found out that because I missed a lecture, I didn't have all the study material I needed. I had sacrificed my health for nothing because I was still gonna fail. I managed to get the paper and tried to pull an all-nighter to study it. But I couldn't focus. I caved and drained another power unit. I kinda figured that the damage was done if it was dangerous and I was desperate already. Over the course of the week, for numerous reasons I kept draining power units in order to cope," Danny continued. He paused to sigh.

"I thought… I thought it was Phantom giving back to me for all he'd taken from me. My powers always asked for sacrifice from my human half's life. I believed that the fact I could drain these power units in order to get energy and cope with the pressure, I thought it was finally a way for my powers to actually _help_ my human half's life for a change. Boy was I wrong. Once I got back, I kept draining power units because I wanted to use my trick to benefit Dani but I didn't want her to do it. The power units let me lessen my need to cater to my health and gave me the time and ability to focus on doing Phantom responsibilities. By the time the ghost attacks slowed down, I knew I was dependent on them. I was scared of what would happen if I quit. So I didn't. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing because I didn't want to worry any of you. At some point though… my dependency turned into an addiction. My reasons changed to more selfish ones. And it took Sam confronting me and hurting Emily for me to realise it," Danny concluded with shame glistening in his eyes.

"Oh sweetie. I'm so sorry. I didn't realise how much pressure you were under. I promise, your father and I are going to make sure you're never put into another situation like that. You focus on college," Maddie vowed. Danny smiled gratefully at his mother.

"Thanks mom. But Phantom is still my responsibility so if you _do_ need him, let me know. I know now to not sacrifice my health," Danny replied. Maddie smiled, glad to hear that her son had truly learnt his lesson.

 **So yeah, I'm ending there. After all we all know that Danny had to struggle from then on to not relapse from A Ghostly Crisis.**

 **Let me know what you guys think of the story.**

 **I'd also like to thank everyone who took the time to read this fanfic and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I'd also like to give my thanks for getting this request and I hope it measured up.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed with information on transport in America too, I'll definitely keep that stuff in mind for the future.**

 **I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed this story. It honestly does brighten my day to read your thoughts.**

 **Search and Rescue will be released in a few days. It follows on from A Ghostly Crisis. So make sure you check out the advert posted on my facebook page. There's a link in my bio.**

 **And lastly, happy New Year. Here's hoping to a fantastic one for everyone.**

 **Until the next fanfic.**


End file.
